#arc echo

“Osik!” You should have been wearing your gloves to protect from shocks and they would have prevented the slight burning you now felt at the tips of your fingers. “Have you tried restarting the network settings?” You asked the astromech. R2 let out a low whistle but he was interrupted by someone entering via the ramp at the back.

“Don’t let Rex hear you talk like that.” You smiled to yourself as you wound some wires together and then held them out for R2-D2 to solder together.

“Oh, yeah?” You challenged. “He wouldn’t approve?” The blue light finished sparking before your eyes and you pressed the wires carefully back into the body of the B1 droid you were reprogramming.

“No, he would not.” With a sigh you eased your helmet off and locked eyes with and RC Trooper. You took a moment to admire his physique, the way the pauldrons really accented the broadness of his shoulders, the flare the kama gave his hips and you felt your heart kick up at the intimidating sight. His gaze was as golden as pools of honey, streaked with brown and a faint dash of green that you enjoyed studying in the few moments of alone time you actually got.

“Do you approve?” You asked, your tone dropping slightly. The clone approached, his helmet resting easily under his arm, cocked against his side as he came to a stop right before you. You had no choice but to tilt your head right back, keeping your gaze magnetised to his, unable to move from your position straddling the back of the B1 droid you’d been working on. His free hand twitched and your gaze dropped to the blue hand print on his chest.

“R2, I think General Skywalker would like you to go over the plan one more time.” The droid beeped indignantly that you were suggesting he hadn’t memorised the plan for storming the Citadel but you didn’t have anything else in your verbal arsenal. “I know that,” you told the droid, keeping your tone breezy. “Maybe it was General Kenobi instead. You should probably find out then we can finish with these droids.” R2 made a rude noise as he wheeled away but you’d already forgotten about upsetting him.

Echo lifted his hand as soon the astromech was down the ramp, using his gloved thumb to trace your lips. Your breath hitched when his gaze went from affectionate to heated within seconds. His hand tentatively dipped to cup your chin, his fingers digging in and urging you to your feet. No sooner had you stood, he was pushing you backwards making you step over the droids and slamming you against the wall of the shuttle before his lips fell on you.

Your bodies pressed together, having no choice but to melt against his ARC armour as he crowded you against the wall. You heard the thud of his helmet, his hands coming up to grab your face as his lips ravished yours with a desperate message he was trying to silently convey.

He stole your breath. He created a dull roar in your ears as your heart thumped relentlessly behind your rips, beating with his as it raced under his armour. Echo kissed you like he was a drowning man and you were the only thing keeping him alive.

The pair of you had been in a secret relationship for a few months now, stealing kisses and whispers in the dark at every opportunity. You often wondered if Fives knew about what was going on, no doubt he wondered where Echo got to occasionally or why his Domino Twin was extra tired. You wondered, but you never asked and Echo never said.

Right now, you didn’t care. Your hands snaked up to run through the short, tough strands of his hair as his hand dropped, hooking under your thigh and hitching your leg as high as he could. You moaned into his mouth, licking as deeply as he did and feeding a moan into his mouth that he gifted back. He broke the kiss, resting his forehead heavily against you as he tried to relax his ragged breathing.

“I miss you,” he breathed, the words caressing your cheeks as you smiled at him. Studying the freckles on his face and stroking the faint stubble that was coming up on his cheeks.

“When you come back, maybe we can take some time?” You suggested hopefully. You felt his hesitation, seeing the frown that dipped between his brows and you made him look up and into your eyes. “I know you can’t promise anything, Echo. I know that, but it’s something we can try and hold onto.” Tears began to wet your lashes and he cupped your cheek, gently swiping his thumb under your eye to catch a stray tear that fell.

“I want to do that, with you,” he rumbled softly.

“I know,” you whispered, smiling sadly. You leaned towards him, brushing your nose against his, feeling the way he breathed against your skin. The ache inside your chest widened and you pressed a kiss to his waiting lips in the hope he could banish it from you. But no matter how much of each other you breathed in, nothing could stop the darkness that loomed.

You broke apart when his com went off and he dropped your leg with a sigh, finally stepping away to answer it.

Resting against the hull wall you huffed, rubbing your face and forcing yourself to carry this heaviness like it wasn’t crushing you. Usually you were fine before he left for a mission but this time, you just had a bad feeling that would not leave.

“We’ve all been summoned to the briefing room,” he informed you, the telltale pout pulling at his mouth and he looked at the floor like it had offended him.

“You have to go,” you whispered, using the heel of your hand to dab at your cheeks.

“Yes.” His gaze rose to meet with your watery one, all the emotions he was feeling clouding his features and it made your heart throb painfully.

The moment hung suspended between you. An awareness of how difficult this was for you both but neither of you could really talk about it. Without words you gravitated towards one another, colliding roughly in your urgency to feel each other again. Your hands now cupped his face, grabbing him and pulling him to your level for a desperate kiss as he wrapped his arms around your waist. His armour dug in through your overalls but you didn’t care. You wanted his touch imprinted over your body, you wanted his scent tattooed on your skin.

You couldn’t help the tears bleeding from your eyes, hating that your body was betraying you at this moment and it couldn’t have just waited. He took the time to wipe your cheeks, a soft smile on his face as he gazed lovingly at you. “I know we never said…” his voice fractured and you nearly broke on the spot.

“It’s ok,” you whispered. “I feel it too.” His honey rich gaze searched your own, sucking his bottom lip briefly between his teeth as he inhaled sharply.

“When I come back…I’ll say it.” You smiled, trying to ignore the more tears that filled your vision as your insides quivered with love and sadness.

“When you come back,” you repeated. “I’ll hold you to that.”

“I’m expecting you to, kair’ta.” You closed your eyes, feeling him slip silently away and suddenly your hands were empty. Your body was cold and he left you standing alone in the shuttle you had been tasked with maintaining for their mission. It took a moment before you could move again, hating the way the taste of him diminished and the scent of him faded. Lifting a shaky hand to your lips you stared at the empty hatch, wishing briefly he’d come back one more time.

A few angry beeps alerted you to R2’s return and you scoffed at his scolding. “I’m sorry R2, I must have got my wires crossed.” Picking up the panel you replaced it back on the droid and sealed it into place. “Shall we see if these boys work?”

Waiting was the worst part. Even walking the length of the flight deck and back wasn’t enough to stop the thoughts that crowded in your mind. Most of your team left you alone, they knew you cared for the clones and always worried about their safe return, they just didn’t know how far it went.

Forcing yourself to sit on a crate of spare parts you stared at the stars through the blue of the shield. You weren’t privy to any com chatter down here and honestly you weren’t sure if you wanted to listen anyway. It was probably radio silence from the Citadel or they risked detection anyway.

Oh gods…why was this so difficult? You felt the urge to pull on your hair, chew the skin on your side of fingers, every movement made your overalls rub and it aggravated you. They had been down there for hours, it felt like hours.

Oh Echo, Echo please come back to me. Folding into yourself, you covered your face and took a shaky breath.

The ship shuddered around you, the durasteel groaning and you looked up to see ships passing the dorsal doors. You instantly recognised them as Separatist. So they’d been discovered. Your mouth twisted grimly and you joined the group on the deck also watching, as it all unfolded before you.

There was nothing you could do. Nothing, except watch the sacrifices being made to try and extract the group from the hostile planet and leave with as much intact as they could.

No one spoke. Aside from the noises of the ship a silent sense of anticipation reigned on the flight deck, a tension where you readied yourselves before exploding into action when needed. Some medics had come down from the medbay and you clocked their bags of equipment at their feet. No gurneys though, that was a good sign.

Could you…could you dare to hope that this bad feeling you carried would be banished as soon as Echo got off that shuttle? You let yourself get swept up in the daydream of him coming towards you and hauling you into his embrace. Of course, it would never happen like that, but you could dream.

“Ships incoming!” You began to direct the team, requesting extinguishers and beckoning the med team closer but not too close. You looked around one last time to make sure there was room only to see a Larty guided by some Actis and an Aethersprite. No sign of your shuttle and you couldn’t ignore the jolt in your stomach. It meant something had gone wrong.

Upon seeing the ships were intact you let the medics in first, approaching the doors as they opened on the gunship. The first to disembark were the Jedi, you knew them by sight but that was all. And all your attention was on the clones anyway.

Fives was the first one you recognised, your heart jumping and you smiled, because if Fives was here Echo wouldn’t be far behind. You carried on looking. And looking. And looking.

Fives stood on the edge of the group, shaking off a medic and standing with his head bowed. Captain Rex approached him, his helmet tucked under his arm in much the same way Echo had held his earlier. You watched Rex put a hand on Fives pauldron, his expression marked with sorrow as he murmured to the ARC and you shook your head.

No. No…Echo had to be here. You must have just missed him in the crush. So you searched for the blue handprint, the wide shoulders, the flutter of his kama…you searched for it all and still you weren’t seeing him.

The Jedi moved away, ignoring the way General Skywalker’s gaze lingered on your frozen form as he walked past. You barely responded to questions from your team not able to think above the internal scream that was growing louder with each passing second.

Turning on your heel you disappeared into the darkness of the flight deck, hiding behind some crates as your hand clutched at your overalls. Pain radiated from the centre of your chest, leaching out into your body as you gasped desperately against the hurt. This wasn’t happening! He told you he was coming back! He said…he said.

You moaned softly, a noise of pure aching loss and you fell heavily to your knees. Tears spilled unchecked down your face and it hit you how alone you were. You couldn’t talk to anyone about this, you couldn’t show the depth of your grief because you shouldn’t be feeling it this keenly. You weren’t supposed to be in love with him.

And now Echo was…slamming your fists into the flight deck you pounded until the sides of your hands were numb. A scream threatening to rip from your chest like a living beast, pressure built behind your eyes and you could feel the grief clawing it’s way up your throat.

“Hey! Hey!” Echo! He sounded so much like Echo and right now, you were desperate for it. But it wasn’t Echo, you knew that. “You’ll break your hand.” Fives grabbed your wrists, kneeling before you, his own skin wet with tears as he pulled you up.

“Fives…” you breathed between sobs.

“I know. I know and I’m sorry.” He pulled you against him, holding you upright as you went limp in his embrace. Feeling his body shake with the pain that he felt as keenly as you. Your face contorted, still trying to hold it all in and failing. “I tried to stop him, I tried.” If Echo thought he was doing something right, not even the stars themselves could have stopped him.

“D-do you…” clearing your throat you tried to speak but the emotion that clogged your throat made it difficult. “Do you have a piece of his armour?” Fives pulled away, sitting back on his heels and putting his hands on your shoulders. Wiping your face you watched his face, already knowing the answer from the way he briefly closed his eyes as he contemplated on how to tell you. “There was nothing left?” You whispered. “Oh god.”

You shattered.

Not caring if you were heard as you mourned in the dark. Fives held you together as best he could while he fractured with his own pain. He had only learned about you in the last few hours. Echo made him promise to look after you if anything happened to him on their private com channel. And he had, he’d promised Echo without hesitation, thinking he was going to tease his brother so badly when they got back for having a secret relationship.

But now he had someone to hold together, to try and pick up the shattered pieces of your heart because Echo wasn’t here and he couldn’t help but blame himself. Tucking his face into your neck he closed his eyes and gave into his shuddering sobs.

Rex stood a little way away, making sure no one came near those crates. He refused to give details, turning everyone away until he saw Anakin approaching.

“Shouldn’t you be in the medbay, General?”

“Have you been checked?” Anakin bit back and Rex straightened his posture. He couldn’t deny the General if he ordered him away even if he wanted to with every fibre in his being. Rex’s eyes widened with surprise when Skywalker came to a stop beside him, standing to attention at his Captain’s side without a word and Rex relaxed.

Anakin gazed out at the lights of hyperspace and how they flickered through the flight deck. “Nice view,” he commented softly.

“Yes, sir. Good place to stand,” Rex agreed. His thoughts wandered back to Echo and he felt the stab of sorrow lance in his chest. He’d only just found about you, from the moment Fives followed you he knew. He had clocked Echo’s behaviour recently but kept it to himself incase he was mistaken. Now he was desolate that Echo had left you behind, but at least you weren’t alone.

You’d never be alone.

For Echo.