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kybercrystals94 · 7 months

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I Miss You

By KyberCrystals94

Read on Ao3 here!

Whumptober 2023|Day 5|Alternative Prompt: Playing Cards

Bad Things Happen Bingo|Prompt: Crying Themselves to Sleep

Rating: G

Words: 785

Summary: Echo discovers a message from a brother.

“Those look so old!” Wrecker declares, leaning on the upper bunk to scrutinize the playing cards Echo is sorting through.

Echo smiles. “That’s because they are old. I pilfered them off a graduated trooper when I was a cadet.”

“You stole them?” Wrecker sounds as impressed as he is surprised. “I thought you never broke a rule in your life.”

“With the right motivation, I’ve been persuaded to bend a few.” Echo chuckles. “Technically, they were contraband for the guy I stole them from. So, really, I was doing him a favor.”

Wrecker grins. “That’s neat you still have them even after they thought you were blown up.”

Echo’s smile falls slightly as he continues to set the cards out, dividing them into suits. “Yeah, when they thought I died, they went to my old batch mate, Fives. After Fives, they went to Rex, and then Rex gave them back to me when I-"

"Came back to life?” Wrecker offers.

“Sure,” Echo says. “When that happened.”

“I don’t think you could even shuffle them if you tried.” Wrecker laughs.

“They’ve definitely seen better days.”

The cards are dogeared, and every one of them has been folded into quarters because of the time Cutup tried to cheat at Sabaac. He folded a few of them so he could identify them in someone’s hand. When the other Dominos found out, they had painstakingly copied the folds on every single card so they all matched. Echo had been so angry at his squad mate, but he desperately wishes he could take back the harsh words that came out of his mouth. After all, they were just cards. A toy. Nowhere near as important as the individuals that played with them.

Echo finds the card he is looking for, the one that had made this deck obsolete. He had accidentally dropped the card in his cup of caf, discoloring it. Fives had suggested they stain all the cards in caf to match; however, Echo decided to retire the deck and get a new one. The old deck was tucked away in his storage bin in the barracks on Kamino, carrying too many memories in its deteriorated fibers to throw away.

Echo holds up the stained card for Wrecker's inspection. “I dropped it in my caf. It’s the reason we didn’t play with this deck anymore,” he explains.

“What does it say?” Wrecker asks.

“What does what say?”

Wrecker points to the back of the card. “On the back. There’s writing.”

Echo flips the card around, squinting to make out the ink of a pen on the intricately designed backing.

I miss you.

Echo feels like the air has been stolen from his lungs.

Fives wrote those words. There is no doubt in Echo’s mind. Not before the Citadel mission. After. After Echo died. After Fives went back to Kamino. Echo can see him. Sitting in their barracks, sorting through Echo’s meager collection of personal effects. He’s searching for a playing card stained in caf. He writes the three words, handwriting ragged by a trembling hand. A note for the brother he lost. That he'd never get back. I miss you.

“Echo!”

Echo blinks and finds that Wrecker has half climbed into the bunk with him, a hand on each of his shoulders. “You with me, buddy?” Wrecker asks.

“Yeah,” Echo croaks. He clears his throat. “Yeah. Sorry.”

Wrecker’s good eye searches Echo’s face, trying to understand. “You scared me there for a second. You sorta zoned out, and then your breathing got weird.”

“Sorry,” Echo says again. Emotions bubble up, threaten to burst out of him, card still gripped in his flesh hand. Dark, inky, familiar script carving into his mind. I miss you. I miss you. I miss you.

“Did I do something?” Wrecker asks, climbing down from his precarious perch.

Echo shakes his head and tries to reassure the man with a thin smile. “No, you didn’t do anything. It’s just…” Echo holds up the card. “The writing. It’s a note from my batch mate, Fives.”

He leaves it at that, and Wrecker doesn’t ask for more. Instead, he offers Echo a kind smile. “I'm gonna go start my watch but let me know if you need anything.”

“Thanks, Wreck, I will,” Echo says, and he means it.

Wrecker leaves the bunk room, and Echo gathers up the cards, tucking them in their tin. He keeps the caf stained card out. He lies down, back to the room, facing the wall, and holds the note in front of him. The last words his oldest brother ever gave him blurs in his watery vision.

“I miss you too,” Echo whispers, and silently cries until sleep claims him.

END

Read the prequel, You Promised, here!

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superlarva · 7 months

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Modern AU kid Domino Squad! Cutup (back left), Hevy (back right), Fives (front left), Droidbait (front middle), Echo (front right). I felt the need to make them all look different since quintuplets would be a bit out of place in a modern AU, so Cutup, Hevy, and Droidbait are adopted.

Okay, I know it's been a few weeks, but I promise I'm still here and still working on Raising Dominoes. Life's just been super busy and I had to put in extra hours at the lab these past few weekends.

Anyways, here is Chapter 11 - Memories. And on a Saturday, not a Sunday! :)

Prologue: 00 Previous chapter: 10

Summary: Rex battles guilt and Echo recalls the events leading up to his hospitalization.

CW: Child abuse, death, death of children, guilt, missing limbs, hospitals, explosions. Heed the warnings on this one, friends. It's not a fun time for the boys.

Chapter 11 - Memories

Rex woke from an uncomfortable sleep as the first rays of sunlight began to illuminate the hospital room. He had not had the heart to separate the twins while they were sleeping, so he had hunkered down in the chair by the boy’s bedside for the night. Now his neck and back ached and he had pins and needles in his legs.

A quick look at the boys and he could see they were still sleeping. In the night they had drifted away from each other. Fives was now sprawled out on the bed, lying on his stomach like a starfish, leaving Echo a tiny sliver of space, and even that was invaded by Fives’s elbow.

Rex smiled to himself and gently moved Fives’s arm to his side so the boy would not accidentally take out one of his brother’s eyes. Luckily the kid was out cold and did not stir at his touch.

Now that he was up, Rex stretched and lazily strolled across the room to the window. Cody would have loved the view. The sun peaked between skyscrapers, casting the streets below in harsh shadows and warm light. From the way the whole city was bathed in orange it looked like a mild autumn morning despite the frigid temperatures Rex knew were on the other side of the glass.

He did not know how long he stood there, staring out the window and watching the cars march by in the lines of morning traffic like ants. He let his mind wander freely, enjoying the peaceful quiet of dawn. His brain had been working in overdrive constantly the past four days, always worried or planning. It felt nice to turn it off for a few seconds, doing a hard reboot and getting himself back on track.

Eventually the sound of the door opening caught Rex’s attention. Kix nodded to him from the doorway and strode over to the bed to change out Echo’s med bag.

“Hey,” Rex called softly, abandoning his post by the window and moving to stand beside the doctor. “Shouldn’t you be at home? It’s Saturday.”

Kix shrugged, focused on checking up on Echo, “I guess I picked up an extra shift.”

“What about Dogma and Tup?”

“Jesse’s got them,” Kix shrugged again, his tone nonchalant. He scrawled something quickly on his clipboard and then turned to Rex and nodded to the door, “Let’s talk outside.”

Rex followed Kix outside Echo’s room without complaint, and sat when Kix motioned to a bench in the hallway.

Kix sat next to him, sighing heavily, and running a hand through his intricate buzzcut, “Echo’s doing really well. Even better since you and Fives arrived.”

Rex nodded.

“If everything continues to go well, we should be able to discharge him this Wednesday. We have to ween him off the meds and make sure he won’t be in too much pain when you take him home. At this point, that’s really all he’s here for. The medication, sterile environment, and so that we can monitor the healing process.”

“So, he’s going to be okay?”

Kix smiled, leaning back, and resting his head against the wall, “That’s one resilient kid you got, Rex. It’ll take time, but he’ll be alright.”

“Good…” Rex trailed off his mind already whizzing over a million different questions. What if he was not? What if he healed physically, but could not mentally or emotionally? What if he hated him? What if he’d never be able to gain the kid’s trust? What if-

“Rex,” Kix laid a hand on Rex’s violently bouncing knee, and Rex instinctively jerked away from the touch. Kix frowned, retracting his arm, “More importantly, are you going to be alright?”

“‘More importantly?’” Rex scoffed. He turned his head away from Kix, choosing to focus on the checkered floor pattern instead. Echo was the one in the hospital, not him.

“Yeah, ‘more importantly,’” Kix hunched over, bracing his elbows on his knees before lowering his voice and continuing, “Listen to me, Rex. I don’t know a lot about what those boys have gone through, but if it’s anything half as bad as my boys—and I’m confident it’s worse—you’re going to need to be strong for them.”

Kix’s eyes flicked over to Rex to ensure his friend was still paying attention, “You’re going to have to show them they can trust you over and over and over again. And once you think they finally do, you’re going to do something that’s going to mess it all up. You’re going to have to start from square one.”

Rex was about to interject, but Kix held up a hand, “Listen, I’m telling you this because I want you to be prepared. I want this to end well. For that to happen, you need to show them how to be strong and learn to trust again. You won’t be able to do that if you let yourself get overwhelmed.”

“I-” Rex stuttered, voice caught in his throat, leg bouncing erratically again. He shook his head as if to shake unpleasant thoughts from his mind.

“Please don’t live in the past, Rex. Please. I don’t want that for you, and I don’t want that for your boys.”

Rex turned to Kix, eyes full of desperation, “How? How can I not live in the past? Look at what she did to them! Look at what I did to them! I should have been there. If I had been there-”

Rex broke off, hands trembling in his lap, a pained smile stretching across his face.

“You have to understand it’s not your fault. I know that’s hard, but what happened to them is not your fault. It’s not.”

Kix paused for a second, letting Rex meet his eyes before continuing, “What will happen to them will be. So, let’s make sure that it’s your fault that they smile. That they laugh and play and miss you when you’re gone. Make sure it’s your fault they’re happy.”

Rex shook his head, “And if I can’t?”

“You can. I know you can. And Cody and I will always be here to help, okay?”

Rex shrugged.

Kix nudged him in the arm, a slight smile spreading up the corners of his mouth, “Heck, even Jesse wants to help out. He’s been complaining that he’s the only one that hasn’t met them yet.”

Rex let out a clipped chuckle at the idea of his twins meeting Kix’s younger brother, “Yeah, okay.”

Echo woke to an aching pain coursing through his body and a familiar white light as he blinked himself awake. He must have overdone it during training yesterday. Must have hit his head too with the way it pounded.

He could feel the warmth of Fives’s body next to his left side just like every morning, but the space on the cot to his right was cold and empty. Where was Droidbait?

Echo reached out to feel for his younger brother but retracted his arm when all he found was a fistful of air.

Gone.

The world pitched around Echo. He blinked trying to block out the blinding light and sinking feeling in his gut and focus. He felt sluggish and fuzzy like he had been sedated, but he could not remember doing anything wrong. No, if he had done something bad, he would be in isolation. It would be cold and dark, and Fives would not be beside him.

Then Droidbait must have been in isolation. What could his youngest brother have done? Why could he not remember?

His head, right. His head. He must have hit his head.

Echo reached over to Fives, about to shake his twin awake when he stopped, pulling back his arm as if it had been burned.

Something was not right.

The light was slowly turning from the intense white to a warm orange as his eyes adjusted. It looked like sunlight. But that could not be right. There were no windows in their room, just a single exposed bulb that’s harsh light reflected on the white floors and walls.

No. This was wrong.

Echo tried to sit up, tried to look for Droidbait, Hevy and Cutup as his eyes gradually focused on the room around him. Tried to make sense of the bed he was on and the machines surrounding him.

He could not. Could not sit up. Could not see his brothers.

Then he could not stop himself from remembering.

Remembering Hevy’s plan.

They were going to escape. Going to climb over the wall during their morning drills. He had thought it was a bad idea. Mom told them not to go near the citadel walls. She had warned them bad things would happen. Cutup said she was probably lying. He had said she would not be watching. Echo did not agree.

She was always watching.

Droidbait was scared. He had said over and over that he did not want to go. That he was afraid. That they would not make it over the wall. That she would find them even if they did.

As soon as the drill started Hevy had grabbed him. Dragged their youngest brother after him. Cutup had followed just behind, leaving Echo to wake up Fives.

Fives never woke to the alarm. Echo thought the flashing red lights and the incessant ringing would have been enough to wake a dead man, but Fives never so much as stirred. Echo had to shake him.

Fives had not been sure about Hevy’s plan either. He had said that even if they cleared the wall and made it down to the other side, what would they do next? Where would they go? But when the time came, he was on board. If Hevy and Cutup and Droidbait were doing it, so was he.

If Fives was doing it, so was Echo.

They had run down the hall and out through the normally bolted shut doors. The doors outside only opened during morning drill. Echo knew. This had not been the first time they had tried to escape.

By the time he and Fives had made it out into the yard, his adopted brothers were already scaling the wall. Cutup was nearly at the top and Hevy was helping Droidbait a few feet below.

No one had stopped them.

Fives ran to the wall. Echo followed.

They were doing this now.

No turning back.

About halfway up Echo heard the first explosion. He heard Droidbait screaming Cutup’s name. His voice had been laden with fear and grief. He heard Hevy yelling at Droidbait, begging him not to move. He heard Fives whimper quietly next to him.

When Echo pulled himself up onto the top of the wall he saw Hevy crouched next to Droidbait’s foot. He saw his youngest brother’s eyes wide with terror, staring at the place where the explosion had been. He saw the pile of rubble. He saw Cutup’s eyes staring blankly up at the sky from under the settling dust.

Hevy had turned to him and Fives and moved aside so they could see the dark olive cylinder resting under Droidbait’s foot. Droidbait stared at the rubble, repeating Cutup’s name over and over, his voice hollow and quiet.

Hevy had hesitated looking from their baby brother’s foot to his lost expression before turning back to the twins.

“You take him and you go,” Hevy had ordered.

Echo watched as he yanked the mine out from under Droidbait’s foot and curled his body over it in one fluid motion. He had been trying to stop the explosion from harming anyone but himself.

It had not worked.

Hevy was blown back towards the twins, a mess of blood and flesh. Droidbait was pushed backwards from the force and teetered on the edge of the wall.

Fives screamed and rushed forwards, reaching out a hand.

He had not been fast enough.

Droidbait fell.

Echo remembered the sound it made when his little brother hit the ground.

He doubted he would ever forget.

Echo did not remember much after that. He must have stepped on one of the mines as well, considering the state of his body. He looked over at his brother, making sure his brother really was as unharmed as he had seemed the day before.

Fives seemed fine, and Echo closed his eyes again to block out the too bright light before they flew open in surprise as the door to his room creaked open.

That man was standing there, the one who had brought Fives. The one named Rex. He looked like the other one—Cody—but with shorter blond hair instead of the longer dark curls that matched him and his brother.

Cody had come a lot to visit. Echo barely remembered much from the past few days, but it seemed every time he woke, he had been there, sitting at his bedside, quietly reading a book of some sort. He had thought Cody was his dad at first. It made sense, they looked just like each other, and why else would anyone take an interest in him.

When Echo had asked, Cody had smiled and said that his dad was taking care of Fives, that he was his uncle, that his dad’s name was Rex.

Rex.

His dad.

The guy had seemed nice enough yesterday, but Echo knew better than to believe his charade. Besides, Echo did not want a dad. He wanted his brothers back.

Echo must have let his face show too much disgust when Rex came into his view, as the man quickly rushed to his side, “Are you okay?”

Echo narrowed his eyes. Rex sounded like Fives any time Echo or one of their other brothers got hurt during drills. His voice was soft and gentle, even caring, and Echo was taken aback. It sounded genuine.

“Fine,” Echo mumbled, voice scratchy.

The man hovered awkwardly by the side of the bed for another moment before nodding and sitting slowly in the chair, “Your brother’s still sleeping, huh?”

Echo nodded, waiting for the command to wake his twin and rob him of a few more precious minutes of sleep.

It did not come.

Instead, Rex passed a small book to Echo, and pressed a finger to his lips, “We’ll have to be quiet, then.”

Echo watched as Rex took out a book of his own and flipped to a page in the middle, his head bowed as he read silently. The boy looked down at the book clutched in his hand. It appeared to be some sort of fiction book based on the colorful cover.

Echo snuck a glance at the blond man. He was still engrossed in his novel. The boy cautiously opened to the first page, chancing another look at Rex. Just because he was handed the book did not mean he was allowed to read it. The blond man looked up at the sound of the page crinkling, met his gaze for half a second, flashed a quick smile, and then went back to reading.

Echo followed suit.

Maybe his dad was not so bad.

Just maybe.

@marierg @stressed-cherry @ffdemon @renton6echo @bambambunny @tearfulsolace @rndmpeep @brokenphoenix99 @nerdy-valkyrie @xylionet @tazmbc1 @eyayah123 @the-bad-batch-baroness @sarcastic-nebula @ihaventpickedausername @sexysmeagolshitposting @emma-1409 @marcadamia

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ladykailitha · 1 year

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Oh For a Muse of Fire! Part 11

Not much happens here, but we have a little side drama with Nancy and Eddie willing to jump in for Steve’s sake.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10

Steve parted with Eddie at the walkway between their two buildings and slowly made his way back to the apartment. He opened the door to see Robin on their couch with a tub of ice cream and a spoon.

“You okay?” he asked. “You dipping into the ice cream reserves?”

She shook her head. “Just wanted a little bit of cookies and cream today.”

Steve hung up his jacket and flopped down next to her. “How are your parents?”

Robin smiled around the spoon in her mouth. “Good.” She pulled the spoon out. “They missed you though.”

Steve smiled back at her. “I missed them too. Eddie impressed Dustin.”

Robin’s eyes went wide. “Someone impressed the genius child? Say it isn’t so!”

Steve laughed and told her all about the un-date.

“He’s got it so bad for you, dingus,” she said. “It’s almost embarrassing.”

Steve blushed and ducked his head. “It’s not like that, Robs. I promise.” He looked up. “I mean, yeah, he fixed my car, impressed the unflappable Dustin Henderson, and lent me his jacket, all that says is that he’s a good person.”

Robin batted her eyelashes at him. “Sure we could discount all that as just being a good dude. Fine. Whatever. But how did he dress for tonight?”

Steve’s blush spread from his cheeks to his ears, and down his neck. “He looked hot, Robs. Like full on sex god. I was weak in the knees for Christ’s sake.”

Robin giggled. “Sounds like you went on a date to me.”

Steve’s jaw dropped. “But we didn’t call it date.”

She shook her head. “Doesn’t mean you weren’t on one, my dear dingus.” He looked at her skeptically. “Look, I’ll tell you what. If at the concert on Saturday there isn’t a new song about you, you can go back to calling it whatever you want. But if there is a new song about you, not necessarily a love song. Not yet. But a song about how he’s changed his opinion about you. You are going to call dinner tonight a date.”

Steve thought about it for a moment and then nodded. “You’re on.” He stuck out his hand and they shook on it.

Robin smiled like she had already won.

Saturday arrived and Robin was still as smug as ever, having to have bore witness to Eddie and Steve constantly texting each other and their little coffee breaks after class.

Steve just rolled his eyes. They weren’t even friends yet and Robin was already planning their wedding. It would be here, of course at the Queen’s Crown. Steve would be in white and Eddie would be in black.

She had even picked out the flowers when Steve smacked her with his dish towel.

Opal laughed as they chased each other around the bar. They were about to open and start letting in the pre-concert crowd. The regulars that just came for a cocktail and a good time. Most of those would be gone before the band started setting up at six.

It was Steve’s favorite time on Saturdays. It was calm and fun. And he didn’t have to fob off numbers and flirtatious drunks, like he had to once the band started playing. He didn’t have time to date. Not really.

Eddie and his band showed up and started setting up.

It took everything Steve had to not stare. Eddie was dressed in a sheer long sleeved black shirt with three rips across the chest like an animal had clawed it. He had on tight leather pants and heavy combat boots. And over the shirt to complete the look was a denim vest with pins and patches all over the front and a cutup old Dio band shirt on the back.

Steve didn’t know who Eddie was trying to impress, but he secretly hoped it was him.

About half way through the set, Eddie pulled out a stool and his acoustic guitar. He adjusted the microphone and said, “You’ll excuse this minor indulgence. But I wanted to play you this song. It’s called Thorns and Thistles.”

He cleared his throat and began to play.

“Holy shit,” Opal cursed. “I’ve never heard this song before. I thought I’d heard all of their original material.”

Robin came bouncing up to Steve with a feral grin. “I told you.”

Opal looked back and forth between them in confusion and then she went, “Oh.”

She turned to Robin. “I think my boy is crushing on your boy.”

Robin laughed manically. “That’s okay, my boy has been crushing on your boy for years.” She danced away from Steve’s dish rag as he cracked it at her.

Steve listened to the rest of the song in silence as everyone in the bar was entranced by the crooning vocals, the heartfelt lyrics, and the soulful guitar. Once Eddie was done, the entire bar was in an uproar.

Eddie blushed and said, “Thank you. We now return to our regularly scheduled metal concert.”

The audience laughed as Eddie put away the stool and traded his acoustic for his sweetheart.

He stepped back on the stage and crowd howled as he setup the opening licks for the next song.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a crowd get this pumped up before in all my years of working here,” Steve told Opal.

Opal grinned. “Yeah, Eddie’s good at putting on a show. But that song? Thorns and Thistles? That was pure electricity. Everyone in the club felt it.”

Steve nodded. It was pure Eddie.

It took every ounce of courage Eddie had to look at Steve when he started playing Thorns and Thistles.

The look of awe and admiration on the other man’s face is what helped Eddie get through the song without sobbing horrifically.

He was riding the high of a job well done when he spotted her in the crowd. Thankfully at that same moment Chrissy sailed past him on her way to the bathroom.

“Chrissy!” he hissed, crouching down on the stage near the edge.

She turned to snap at him for calling out her real name but he stopped her with, “Code pink!” Code pink was their phrase for when they ran into someone they wanted to avoid. Usually exes or her parents.

Her mouth snapped shut and she skidded to a stop. “Shit! Who? Where?”

“Garnet’s ex. Her name is Nancy,” he rushed to explain.

Her eyes went to Steve who was chatting with a patron. “What does she look like?” she asked turning back to Eddie.

He let out a hysterical laugh. “A shorter, female version of me in a black pencil skirt and a pink blouse.”

Chrissy nodded. She spotted the girl in question and yeah, that tracked. She pointed her out to Eddie. “You stall her, I’ll get Steve out!” And turned on her heel, running back to the bar.

Eddie nodded.

“Garnet!” she hissed. “Code Pink!”

Steve frowned at her in confusion. “A what?”

Chrissy rolled her eyes. “Your ex is here!” she explained. “We need to get you out back.”

Steve nodded and let her throw a towel over his head to lead him to the kitchen.

Robin, who had been on her way back to the kitchen with dirty glasses spotted what was going on and immediately sped up. “What the hell is going on?” she hissed.

Steve pulled the towel off his head. “Nancy’s here,” he explained.

Diamond knew it was inevitable that they would have friends and family come to the bar, but only if they understood they had to call the employees their gem names. Or at least keep the mistakes to a minimum.

But he also knew that there were times that were out of everyone’s control. Times were an ex or distant (or not so distant) family members that might stumble on the bar by accident. In cases like that it wasn’t about protecting the vibe of the bar.

It was about protecting his people. Protecting them from those who would want to harm them. Especially in Garnet’s case. He knew that there were going to be people who recognized him from the news. But here he could honestly say that he wasn’t Steve. He was Garnet and any resemblance was coincidental.

So when he saw Garnet, Pearl, and Opal make for the backroom, he knew it was one of those times.

He immediately was out there to take over bar-tending. He nodded to Topaz, who nodded to Onyx. The two of them started making their way to the bar.

Opal came out as they reached Diamond. “Garnet’s ex-girlfriend is here.”

“Shit!” Topaz snarled. “Sorry, boss. That’s on me. We’ve been dating awhile and I told her Peridot had called in sick and I had to come in...on our anniversary.”

Diamond closed his eyes. “See if you can head her off, Topaz.” He turned to his bouncer. “Follow close behind, I have a bad feeling about her being here tonight.”

Both men nodded and blended into the crowd.

“The next round is on me!” Diamond called out to the patrons. And a cheer went up.

Topaz made it to Nancy and saw that she was chatting with Eddie.

“I didn’t make you for a metal fan,” he was saying.

Nancy rolled her eyes. “I’m not. I’m trying to find my boyfriend.” She tried to get around him.

“Maybe I could help you find him,” Eddie suggested, deftly sidestepping back into her way. “I’m taller. I could spot him better.”

Nancy scoffed. “Lose it, Munson. I’m not in the mood.”

Topaz rushed to her side. “Hey, babe. What brings you to the club tonight? I told you I was working.” He reached out to kiss her the top of her head, but she stepped back.

“I just wanted to see where you worked,” Nancy said. “I wanted to see the new bartender you’ve been banging on about.”

Topaz and Eddie exchanged wide-eyed looks.

“Nance,” he murmured. “I’ve told you. There is nothing between us. She’s gay.”

“Maybe I just wanted to see for myself,” she defended.

Suddenly there was a shadow that loomed over her and said with a thick Russian accent, “No harassment of the employees is allowed.”

Nancy’s spin straightened and she gulped. She turned around slowly to face the man known only as Onyx. The one that didn’t like anyone.

“Oh, hey,” she squeaked. “I wouldn’t. I wasn’t going to. Friend of my boyfriend and all that.” She smiled wanly.

“Come back on a less busy night,” Onyx said, deadpan. “Come on Monday. That would be better.”

Topaz went to kiss the top of her head and this time she let him. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I got so jealous, I couldn’t see straight.”

Topaz hugged her close. “Go home, we’ll talk when I get off.”

Onyx walked her to the door, she turned back and smiled at wanly at Topaz as if in apology.

Diamond came back to the back room and gathered all his people.

“What the fuck happened tonight?” he growled. The four of them looked at the ground. “I’m not blaming you. Shit. But she came in like a hell cat bent on destruction.”

Topaz coughed. “Now that things are picking up here at the bar and I’ve been busier, I think she thought I was cheating on her.”

Opal laughed. “Dude all your female co-workers are hella gay.”

Topaz blushed. “I don’t think she was worried about Opal, despite what she said.”

All heads whipped around to stare at him in shock.

“Does she think you’re bi or something?” Pearl asked.

Steve coughed and looked away. “I think she’s worried that since her first boyfriend turned out to be gay...”

Diamond sighed heavily pushing the palms of his hands into his eyes. “Her current boyfriend might be too?”

Steve nodded, biting his lip.

Opal laughed again. “No, no, I know it’s not funny, per se, but god what a trip. Why would she think you have a crush on Garnet?”

Topaz looked down at his feet sheepishly. “I deliberately don’t talk about him because I worry I’ll let it slip it’s St–I mean Garnet.”

Pearl boggled at him. “So her mind went to you having a crush instead of disliking the guy or even being ambivalent toward him?”

“Take her out to a nice dinner tomorrow,” Diamond suggested. “Wine and dine her. But if she comes in again, guns blazing, I will ban her. Am I understood?”

Topaz nodded.

“Take her to Mama Cleo’s,” Steve suggested. “Henderson’s place. It’s great place for a date.” He winked at Pearl who laughed delightedly.

“Damn straight,” she agreed.

Topaz nodded.

Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Epilogue

Tag List: @artiststarme @allbymyselfexceptformycactus @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @itsall-taken @m-owo-n @zerokrox-blog @runyousillydetective @grimmfitzz @wonderland-girl143-blog @sapphirecobalt-1 @scheodingers-muppet @victor-thee-corvid @apricottree @bookbinderbitch @sleepyboosstuff @biatcgh @pixiefallingupthestairs @grtwdsmwhr @thepainisspicy @carlyv @eboyawstenn @bisexualdisastersworld @bidisastersworld @abstractnaturaldisaster @evix-syne666 @nerdsconquerall @lololol-1234 @goodolefashionedloverboi @chaoticlovingdreamer @a-little-unsteddie @val-from-lawrence @i-must-potato @elluminis @tailsfromthecrypt @danili666 @plyerice27 @alittlegreyfish @n0-1-important @no-upper-limit-to-stupidity @maya-custodios-dionach @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @heaven428 @thedragonsaunt @ceaselessly-watching

#My writing #stranger things #steddie #art school au #gay steve harrington #bisexual eddie munson #ladykailtiha writes

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vodika-vibes · 8 months

Text

Jealousy

Pairing: Hevy x Reader Word Count: 1206 Warnings: Fluff Songs: None Prompt: "Wait a minute...are you jealous?" A/N: So, once again, I'm writing for a clone who only shows up in like 3 episodes. Hevy and Cutup are both members of the 212. Fives, Echo, and Droidbait are all 501st.

Divider by saradika

“Babe, are you sure you want to do this?” You roll your eyes when you hear Hevy whine, and promptly ignore him to finish curling your hair.

“This is important to my mother, Hevy. So yes, I’m sure I want to do this.” You reply after a moment, turning your head slightly to examine your curls, before setting the curling iron on the counter.

“Your mother hates me.”

“She…it isn’t personal, Hevy. She hates everyone.” You say with a sigh, turning on your stool to look at him, “You don’t have to come, Hevy.”

“Yeah, I do.” He replies.

“If you’re not comfortable around my mother, or my family-”

“Babe.” He stands and walks over to you, placing his hands lightly on your shoulders, “The last time you spent any time with your family, they made you cry. I’m not letting you face that alone.”

You look up at him, a small smile crossing your face, “My hero~”

“Yeah, yeah.” He ducks down slightly and kisses your forehead, “You ready?”

“Um…I’m not sure.” You lightly push him away and stand, walking over to the mirror hanging on your closet door. You turn left and right, looking at your outfit, your hair, your shoes, your make-up. “Maybe I should change?”

Hevy sits on the stool you abandoned, “Babe. You look amazing. The color suits you.”

“You’re just saying that because it’s your color.” You reply, without looking at him, “Maybe it’s too bright? I should change into a more muted color-”

“Hey. Hey, no.” He stands and quickly intercepts you before you pull open the closet, “You shouldn’t have to dim yourself to make your family happy. You look amazing.”

You sigh, and lean your forehead against his chest, “Just…want them to be happy to see me for once.” You admit.

You feel his fingers twitch against your back, and you glance up at his face. He’s glaring at the wall, “If they find you lacking,” He says through gritted teeth, “Then that speaks more about them and their personality than about you and yours.”

You smile at him, “That’s sweet, Hevy.”

“Yeah, well. I have a little experience with family expecting the worst of you.” Hevy replies blandly, “You never saw how some of the others treated us Dominos before we were pulled into the 501st and 212th.”

“And now look at you, an ARC Trooper who works directly under Commander Cody.” You say with a warm, and very proud, smile.

He grins, “My point, darling,” Hevy says as he lightly strokes your cheek with the back of his fingers, “Is that I get it.”

“I know.” You hook your arms around his waist and smile up at him adoringly, “You really think I look good?”

“I think you look amazing. Where did you even find a dress in 212th gold?” Hevy asks.

“I special ordered it.” You reply cheerfully, “This will probably be the only time I wear it, honestly.”

Hevy’s heavy gaze scans your body, “I’m sure I can come up with a reason for you to wear it somewhere else.” He replies, and then he lightly tugs you out of the bedroom, “But, we’re already going to be fashionably late, babe.”

You allow him to guide you out of the apartment, making sure to grab your purse and jacket on your way out of your home, “Don’t forget your jacket, love.”

“Yeah, I have it.” Hevy replies as he pulls his own nice jacket on, and then guides you out of the building and towards the taxi.

Half an hour later, the taxi pulls up in front of the Coruscant Convention Center, and Hevy rolls his eyes as he opens the door for the pair of you. “Your mother really rented the whole convention center for this?”

“Well. Mother has always had more money than sense.” You reply as you allow Hevy to help you out of the vehicle. “I’m sure she invited a lot more people than she said she did.”

“Of course she did.” Hevy says under his breath, “What do you think she’s playing at?”

“With my mother? Who knows.” You take his hand and you smile brightly at him as he takes your hand and presses his lips against your knuckles.

“You know, we could always make a break for it,” He murmurs against the skin of your knuckles.

You laugh, “We’re already here, Hevy.”

“Tragically. You should know, I told Cutup to call in 30 minutes and fake an emergency-” Hevy admits.

You laugh again, and tug him towards the building. “Well, we can surely handle 30 minutes until Cutup comes to our rescue.”

You push the doors to the convention center open, and step into the open foyer, which had been tastefully decorated in golds and silvers. And then your mother was there, dressed in her finest silver gown, “Darling, you made it!” Your mother flashes the same fake smile that she’s always shown you, “And…you brought your clone.”

“My boyfriend?” You correct with just a hint of sarcasm, “He does have a name, you know.”

“So you keep saying.” The older woman replies, distastefully, “Nevermind that. There’s someone here I want you to meet.”

“What, are you getting married again?” You ask as you lean against Hevy.

“Oh, not me. I found you a fiance.” Your mother says brightly.

Hevy stiffens behind you, and his grip on your hip tightens. You glance up at him in concern, and see that his expression has become totally blank.

“Well. That’s nice.” You say slowly, “But I think we’re just going to leave.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I’m an adult, you don’t get to make those kinds of decisions for me. Not since I was an actual child.” You reply flatly, “Come on, Hevy.”

“If you walk out those doors, you’ll find yourself cut off.” Your mother threatens.

“I haven’t used your money since I was 16, mother.” You counter, “Come on, Hevy.” You tug on his arm, pulling him out of the convention center, and down to the street.

Hevy stares at you, and you stare right back at him, “You didn’t even hesitate.” He says slowly.

“Of course not. I chose you, you goof.” You smile at him and reach up to touch his cheek, “I love you.”

Something thaws in his eyes, “Thought you would have at least met him-”

“Wait a minute…are you jealous?” You ask, eyes wide.

“Well. Maybe a little,” He lightly grips your hips, “It’s not like I’m ever going to be able to provide you enough money to rent out a convention center.” Hevy jokes weakly.

“Hm. You know, I grew up in a family that could do things like rent out convention centers, and I was never happy.” You reply as you lean against him and rest your hands on his chest, “You, Hevy, make me happy. I never feel lonely when I’m around you. And that is so much more important to me.”

He smiles at you, and ducks his head to kiss you. “Love you, mesh’la.” Hevy murmurs.

“Love you too.” You reply, sliding your hands up his chest and wrapping your arms around his neck.

“You wanna go get some food, and then go home, babe?”

“Absolutely.”

#star wars #tcw #star wars fanfiction #hevy x reader #x reader fanfiction

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enigmatist17 · 9 months

Text

Angst that turned into something based off of this and this

When Fives opens his eyes, he can see the stars.

He's not trembling from exhaustion, the hunger cramps due to not feeding his accelerated metabolism the nutrients it needed are gone, and the tears he'd shed in despair trying to explain everything are gone. While he's not lying down, he's not standing up either, just looking at the millions of shining stars as he tries to figure out where he is.

"Fives?"

"Tup?"

"Hey there." Tup is standing, floating, ???, beside him, a smile on that face he'd seen go still days ago. His long hair is free of its bun, idly floating around his face with its familiar teardrop tattoo. "Did you die from the chip too?"

"No, I died trying to tell - well, anyone about it." Fives said, and Tup hugs him when the tears streaming down his face float out among the stars. "I failed."

"You did your best." Tup hugs the ARC as he falls to pieces, his anguished cries making the stars around them dim. Fives cries until three sets of arms seem to come from nowhere, hugging him tight as familiar voices whispered to him in comforting mando'a.

He doesn't have to look to see who it is, letting out a weak laugh as he's hugged even tighter, feeling the first shred of joy since waking up.

But wait, it should be four of them?

"He's still alive." Droidbait answers his unbidden question, and Fives finally turns to see the long dead Domino's he and Echo had seen die so long ago. Droidbait, Hevy and Cutup are smiling at their old batchmate, looking just the same as the day he'd lost them, happy and sad that Fives had finally joined them. Fives wanted to scream at the knowledge that Echo was alive, but instead started to cry again when he's embraced yet again by the four around him.

"It's okay vod'ika, he'll join us eventually." Cutup pressed his forehead against Fives', and watches the former ARC let out a strangled sigh.

"We have so much to show you." Hevy hums when Fives stops crying again, feeling as if he'd been crying for years at this point. "The universe is so big."

"There are also so many friends who are going to be delighted to see you again." Tup smiles, offering a hand that's taken and held like a lifeline.

"Lead on then."

It doesn't stop the pain of Fives' failure as the stars begin to fly past the group, a planet they'd only seen on holo's soon appearing below them as if in orbit. No one can see the dead men as they seem to appear on some beach, and somehow Fives can smell the salty air and feel the warm sand beneath his feet as the Domino's pull Tup and Fives towards a group of troopers that seemed eager to accept them. Old friends who had died, and shinies that had fallen cheered at Fives' arrival, and while it hurt to smile, he was glad to see them in a way.

Time marches on, and then they come in so many numbers.

Thousands and thousands of brothers begin to appear in the stars, all frightened, confused and screaming in anguish when they realize it's over. The chips and its knowledge just clicked into their minds when dead friends and brothers began to appear, and the Force rang out with sadness and agony as the guilt hits them all.

The 501st cry when they reunite, some of their numbers missing but most having died on the Resolute while trying to murder both Ahsoka and Rex. It takes a long time to realize they had been doomed from the start, and in batches more and more brothers appear as years pass.

Some had died fighting the new Empire, some had been test subjects that had gone gruesomely, and not enough died of old age.

Rex and Kix are the last two to join the millions of souls drifting among the stars, and the Force sings with a bittersweet joy when the very last brother finally opens his eyes.

Kix had been alone for so long, fighting a war that had finished so long ago, and died alone for a Resistance that hopefully won their war. He's not alone when he looks around, so many brothers crying with joy as the medic is embraced, and for the first time since they'd lost, he falls apart in their arms.

Then

Then the Force sings to each soul, and the stars vanish, and every clone closes their eyes at a gentle voice.

You have another chance, take it for yourselves my children

When they open their eyes, they're on Kamino in bodies that were far younger when they had left them.

They had a second chance

#personal #star wars #clone wars #the clone wars #arc trooper fives #clone trooper tup #domino squad #clone trooper hevy #clone trooper droidbait #clone trooper cutup #501st battalion #time travel au #maybe a fic series #maybe not #but I was having the Feels #and listened to Burying the Dead too much

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meridiansdominoes · 9 months

Note

Could you put in a small sneak peek for Dominoes chapter 46?

Echo and Fives sit hunched over a datapad between them at the table in the center of their barracks. Echo offers a distracted wave. Fives doesn’t even look up.

“Did you two even sleep?” Droidbait asks. When he’d gone to bed, they’d been practically the same spots, frantically working on Fives’ new training regimen.

“We slept,” Echo replies.

“Did you sleep for more than thirty minutes? Those bags under your eyes could hold a whole Armored Assault Tank,” Cutup says, voice muffled from his top bunk. “I don’t know how you slept through it, ‘Bait, they’ve been muttering down there for hours. I even threw my sad excuse for a pillow at them, but Echo just confiscated it.”

Echo nods smugly down at Cutup’s ratty pillow, cushioning his seat. “ARCs don’t need sleep.”

“Don’t need sleep my—”

“Can you guys be quiet? We’re busy,” Fives snaps.

Droidbait stares at Fives incredulously. So does Echo. Cutup lifts his head from his bunk to peer groggily out. For a moment, no one moves.

“Everything alright, Fives?” Droidbait finally asks, cautious.

“Fine,” Fives grunts. “Just trying to get this done.”

Echo meets Droidbait's gaze and shakes his head with a visible sigh.

Cutup rolls his eyes. “He’s been touchy ever since we spoke with the General,” he says to Droidbait in sloppy ARC sign. “Echo says to just leave him alone.”

#dominoes #fanfic #star wars #tcw #I've made lots of progress on the chapter #it shouldn't be too long now before I can start editing #then post it!#soon #thanks for your patience!

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clonememesfrikyeah · 1 year

Text

Cutup: “Your so ugly the trainers tried to get rid of you at birth by putting you in the ocean but the Kaminoans stoped them and told them it would be littering and they should just throw you down the trash shoot and when they did that the trash shoot just spit you back at them.”

Hevy: “Your so ugly that dogs won’t even play with you and we had to tie raw pork chops around your neck to get them to come near you.”

Fives: *wheezing*

Cutup: “Your so smelly that a sewage plant could explode and leak toxic sulfur fumes everywhere and it would still smell better than you.”

Droidbait: “God damn!”

Cutup: “You know, I can’t tell which gap is bigger; the gap between your teeth or the gap between your ears.”

Hevy: “At least my teeth don’t look like those fake ugly teeth. You were probably the mold for those weren’t you? You gotta see the dentist son.”

Cutup: “Coming from the hoe who just had a cavity filled?”

Echo: “Oooohh!”

Hevy: “That might be but at least I don’t have a nostrils the size of the Coriscant memorial statues.”

Fives: *Wheezing intensifies*

Cutup: “You know what they say about guys with big noses.”

Hevy: “They have tiny brains, a thin intellect and an IQ in the negatives?”

Cutup: “At least my last few brain cells aren’t bouncing around like screen savors and killing them selves like yours.”

Droidbait: “Oh shit!”

Hevy: “Mirrors break when you look into them because they’d rather be useless than reflect that ugly mug you call a face.”

Cutup: “Brik always try’s to give you ugly looks but then he realizes you already got that covered”

Hevy: “Your so ugly that when new born tubies see you for the first time they immediately go into a coma.”

Cutup: “Your so ugly that when Prime sees you he gets nauseous and says ‘ew what the fuck went wrong there’ as he contemplates what a bad decision taking this job was.”

Echo: “Just murder him in front of us why don’t you.”

Hevy: “….. nobody loves you.”

Cutup: *fake ugly sobbing.”

#domino squad #fives #hevy #cutup #droidbait #echo #incorrect clone wars quotes #arc trooper #clone trooper #the clones #tcw #the clone wars #incorrect star wars quotes #the prequels #the 501st #my post #Star Wars

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squirrelno2 · 1 year

Text

A really delightful thing about writing clones for me personally is I can play around with the amount of time it takes people to recognise each other, like as long as their appearance has changed or they don't have any visible identifying marks, you can have a lot of dramatic irony and/or weird outsider pov vibes until the reveal of who someone is - especially fun because then you get to decide what the moment is that someone realises the truth, whether it's a thing they do that is so quintessentially them or the pov character keeps going "man this reminds me of this person it couldn't possibly be" right up until the shoe drops via name and they realise their hunch was right all along. There's just so many possibilities for emotional moments and making the audience wait for the relief of the truth and just generally giving out lots of feelings about what it means to know somebody well enough to recognise their tiny details, or to not recognise someone who means so much to you simply because of circumstance

And then I write Cutup and as soon as he opens his mouth everyone knows it's him because for some goddamn reason he decided he needed a different accent. I personally choose to believe he mimicked somebody's accent as a joke and then committed to the bit too hard

#star wars #clone wars #clone trooper cutup #this post brought to you by the fact that i keep contemplating domino squad reunions for the time travel series #no but actually in the real world. what WAS the reason. did dbb just run out of ideas for tonal differentiation. was he bored that day.

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kark-trooper-echo · 1 year

Note

Sooo, do you have any special stories about the Domino squad that you would like to share? Did you ever talk about them with the Bad Batch?

Shortly after I joined Clone Force 99, the boys were having an argument over who could sound the most like a Gungan while holding a ration bar between his teeth. Hunter said he doubted my old squad was that crazy. He had no idea. That's when the stories started.

Sneaking onto a shuttle when we were seven to see what it looked like on the inside was fun until it took off with us in the hold. We got in a lot of trouble for that one.

Another time, we mixed some chemicals we swiped from one of the labs in a latrine to see if would explode. It didn't. Then the whole 'fresher did about an hour later. No one was hurt and we didn't get caught, but we were more careful after that.

Then there was the time Cutup took the master chief's access card, made a copy of it, then managed to put it back on him without him noticing a thing. It earned him the name "Master Thief".

It seems I'm destined to be with a crazy group wherever I go. I'm okay with that.

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chopper-base · 2 years

Text

Hevy: why is Echo and Cutup laying face down of the floor?

Droidbait: Echo accidentally called General Shaak Ti 'mom'

Hevy: okayyy and why is Cutup laying with him?

Droidbait: he also called her mom like 5 seconds after Echo did.

Fives: *rolling on the floor laughing*

#domino squad #i miss them so much #tcw hevy #tcw droidbait #tcw cutup #tcw echo #tcw fives #domino twins #shaak ti #clone wars fives #clone wars echo #clone wars droidbait #clone wars hevy #clone wars cutup #incorrect clone wars quotes #incorrect star wars #incorrect star wars quotes

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kybercrystals94 · 7 months

Text

You Promised

By KyberCrystals94

Read here on Ao3!

Whumptober 2023|Day 10|Prompt 10: “You promised you’d never leave.”

Rating: T

Words: 1409

Summary: Prequel to “I Miss You”, Fives goes to collect Echo’s effects from Kamino.

Kamino is always dark, always stormy, but as Fives walks past the yawning panes of glass overlooking the turmoil of waves against the gloaming night, he feels a kindred connection to its anguish. This is his first time on Kamino without Echo.

It’s been weeks since his death, and Fives is about sick of the questions, the looks, the reassuring squeezes of hands on his shoulder. Because not a single word, expression or touch will bring Echo back. Empty condolences are useless. He doesn’t need to be coddled or sympathized with. Fives is as strong and capable as the best of them.

And yet, he’s never experienced life without Echo until now, and the resounding emptiness of his absence burns with the intensity of a blaster bolt right through the heart.

When Rex suggested that Fives be put on a troops transport assignment to Kamino, the ARC leapt at the chance. He’d been quietly looking for any excuse or reason to return to his home planet to collect Echo’s personal effects; however, outright asking would mean admitting…something. That he was weak? Devastated? Heart broken? Clones are supposed to withstand the stresses of warfare, to have unbreakable resolve in the face of death, no matter whose death it was. It is literally bred and cultivated into their DNA. Maybe the Kaminoans aren’t as smart as they think they are…and maybe clones can’t be programmed because they are actual human beings.

Fives shoves away the wandering thoughts, focusing on navigating the halls to their barracks. He thanks the force that most of the troopers assigned to this barracks are off-world, and he’ll have the space mostly to himself. Activating the lock, he wastes no time making his way to his and Echo’s bunk cell. He goes to the storage shelf and pulls down the box with Echo’s CT number. Clean, cold letters.

Fives sits down on what used to be Echo’s bed and opens the box. He isn’t surprised that it is nearly empty. Practical and by-the-book Echo didn’t find much use for sentimental trinkets or useless collections. Which means the things he did keep are — were — invaluable to him. Inside is his graduation medal, his cadet data pad with all the manuals he’d memorized still downloaded, and the deck of cards he had stolen after the rest of the squad had teased him relentlessly for being boring.

Fives remembers when Echo came into the barracks that night. It looked like the kid had murdered someone by the look on his face, awash with guilt and a sheen of nervous sweat.

Echo grabbed Fives’ arm and practically dragged him over to the bunk.

“Who’s boring now, huh?” he whispered, the tremor in his voice betraying the bravado of the words. Echo shoved the deck of cards into Fives’ hands. “I took these off a trooper outside the rec hall.”

“You mean you stole them,” Fives clarified.

Echo frowned. “He wasn’t even supposed to have them. I think he stole them.”

“So, what, that cancels out the fact that you stole them from him?” Fives asked, trying so hard not to smile. It made his whole face hurt suppressing that stupid grin. “What’s the regulation against that, huh?”

Echo looked like he was actually about to answer him when the rest of Domino Squad appeared.

“What are those!” Droidbait crowed, snatching them out of Fives’ hand.

Echo protested indignantly, “Those are mine!”

“Yeah, but you can’t play sabaac by yourself, di’kut,” came Hevy, lightly smacking Echo on the back of the head.

Echo ducked away and tried to get the cards back from Droidbait who immediately tossed them to Cutup. “Hey, give ‘em back!”

“Is there nothing in the manuals about sharing?” Cutup laughed and went to toss the deck back to Droidbait when Fives intercepted.

“I’ll take those,” Fives said, giving Cutup an extra shove for good measure. He handed the deck back to Echo with a wink. “Fine. I guess you’re not so boring after all.”

Fives opens the tin and begins to lay out the cards, chuckling over the matching folds. That was the day he’d decided he never wanted to be on Echo’s bad side. Cutup had barely survived the verbal lashing he’d gotten for damaging Echo’s prized possession just to cheat at a game he was kark at anyway.

The cards are soft and almost pliable, worthless by any sort of functional standard. Shuffling had become too difficult, and they’d resorted to sifting them manually, which in turn led to arguments about stacking the deck, which – depending on the dealer – was often true. After the Risha Moon Outpost, Echo had become even more protective of the deck, grudgingly allowing Fives to use them occasionally. Ironically, it was Echo that caused further damage by dropping a card in his cup of caf one morning.

Fives bit back the laughter that bubbled up, the compulsive need to make a sarcastic comment at his brother’s expense almost overwhelming. But desire was snuffed out the moment he saw Echo’s face as he held the dripping card gingerly between his thumb and index finger.

The man’s eyes had misted over, and if he weren’t a war-hardened ARC trooper, he might have burst into tears.

“Here,” Fives said, taking the card carefully. He laid it flat on the table and patted it dry with his sleeve. “Just a little stained. We could stain the rest of them, and we’d be none the wiser.”

Echo swallowed and blinked. Hard. Fives pretended he didn’t notice. “No. I think I’ll just put this deck away. I can get a new one next time we’re in town.”

Fives picks up the offending card. Even months later, it has the faint smell of caff. “Why’d you have to go be a hero?” Fives asks. “Turns out we didn’t even need that kriffing shuttle.”

Echo doesn’t answer. Echo will never answer him again.

Fives glares at the card, refuses to acknowledge the burning sensation behind his eyes. “You said you’d never leave,” Fives growls to the void where Echo’s presence used to be. “You promised.”

After Rishi Moon, the first time they’d lost brothers, the first time the war was more than just a distant promise of action, they had sat in this room, on this bunk, and Echo tried to comfort Fives from the depths of his own mourning.

“We’re next, aren’t we?” Fives had asked, voice still hitching on exhausted sobs. “What if you die, Echo? I don’t want to be alone.”

Echo is quiet for a moment, an arm wrapped around Fives’ shoulders. “You won’t get rid of me that easy, vod,” he whispers.

“Don’t you dare make promises you can’t keep,” Fives insisted.

“I’ll keep this one,” Echo said.

Like a fool, he’d sounded like he meant it. And in the same foolish vein, Fives had believed him.

Another memory approaches uninvited. Just before they’d become ARC troopers, before the Battle of Kamino, Echo had been driving Fives absolutely crazy, following him around reciting regulations and protocols.

“Force, Echo! Sometimes I wish we’d been assigned to different units,” Fives groused irritably.

Echo smiled, unperturbed. “Give it a day, and you’d miss me.”

Fives stares at the caff stained card. What he’d give to have the culprit back, to hear another recitation of another reg manual, to goad Echo into participating in another inappropriate prank.

Fives stands abruptly and snatches his own box off the shelf. Unlike Echo’s, it is crammed past capacity with whatever junk Fives found remotely interesting. He digs through it until he finds the ink pen Echo said he’d never use because they never use paper. Gripping the pen in his hand, ignoring the way it shakes, he presses the tip into the stained card’s backing and writes: I miss you.

“There,” Fives says out loud, anger disguising grief. “Are you happy? You were right. I would miss you. I do miss you. You didn’t have to go and prove it to me, you kriffing idiot.”

He throws the pen in his box, shoves it back in its slot. He turns to Echo’s bunk, his meager belongings strewn across a regulation blanket that Echo will never use again. He gathers them up, puts the cards and the medal in his pocket, and clips the data pad to his belt.

He tries to leave the memories behind, but they trail after him like echoes of lost voices against cold, empty walls.

END

Author’s Note: I didn’t intend to write a sequel (prequel) to I Miss You, but inspiration struck and refused to be ignored…so here we are, and here it is! **There’s a little hidden Easter Egg somewhere in this post (and on my post on Ao3), so I’m excited to see if anyone finds it!

Tag List: @isthereanechoinhere96 @followthepurrgil @amorfista

✨Let me know if you’d like to be added to my Tag List ✨

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jillianfahey · 26 days

Text

Bad Batch - Afterlife? Echo 1 1/2 (AKA Echo's thoughts on the situation)

Echo could hear the call of his brothers around him, all of them old enough to be shipped out for war. But here they were, talking and laughing in a place that had continuous corridors like Kamino. Yet it was not Kamino, there was no sound of the ocean always in the background and no Kamonians watching them There was no trainers or droids, it was just brothers.

Walking along the corridor Echo started asking about the Bad Batch, trying to find the members of his squad. All of his older brothers pointed him in the same direction, and as he walked he could hear children's laughter. When he reached the stretch of corridor everyone had directed him to he heard, “ECHO!” and a body slammed into him.

Pushing back the brother he thought he would never see again, “Fives?”

The old grin broke over his batchmates face, “Yup.” Then stepping aside, “Look whos here.” Behind him was Hevy, Cutup, and Droidbait all the brothers they had lost on that first mission to Rishi. Domino Squad hugged, laughed, and shed some tears at being reunited after all of this time.

The next few months Echo split his time between the Domino Squad enjoying being a brother again, and keeping Crosshair and Tech out of trouble. When Wrecker arrived that became an even larger headache made worse by the instant friendship that formed between Wrecker and Hevy due to their love of weapons and explosions. Echo could breathe again when Hunter arrived to help him keep the chaos under control. But another problem arrived when he noticed how many ‘accidents’ were meeting troopers that had insulted the Batch, especially Tech, in some way. Crosshair having been in the area or shooting range at or shortly before could have been a coincidence but Echo knew his brother and tried to keep it to a minimum.

All of this made it so the only time that Echo could think of you was in the quiet of the night. Your beautiful eyes, the sun in your hair, how you adapted to every member of the batches abilities and made them more comfortable. Somehow his memories always landed on the few time you held his scope the same way you did his hand. Physical touch was rare with you due to your past as a slave, and every moment was precious to him.

The day was the same as any other with Echo being on the lookout for trouble and when he saw the brothers stirring he looked over to made sure it wasn’t caused by one of his. But then his heart stopped. It was you, wearing a loose sleeveless garment that fell to mid thigh and was see though enough to show the outline of your body but solid enough to keep out details. Stepping forward he spoke, “Y/n?”

Turning in a whirl of fabric you see him and run, ramming into his chest and wrapping your arms around him in a fierce hug, “Echo!”

Hugging your shaking form in return he asked, “Are you alright?” He knew you weren’t but your answer would let him know what he needed to do.

Echo could feel you shaking your head while still pressing against his chest, “It’s too much.”

Immediate extraction it is. Hugging you a little tighter he answers, “Come with me.” Moving you into more of a side hug he leads the way to the Bad Batches apartment. You had met them before, and meeting anyone new right now could just make everything worse.

Getting both of you into the apartment Echo takes you though the living area and straight to his room before gently extracting himself from the hug. You seem to collapse on the bed while he found the sweatpants he had traded for this possibility and a t-shirt. Taking them over to you, “Y/n?” You look up at him your beautiful eyes showing a fight to stay in the present while you were curled up looking small and vulnerable. He wanted to wrap you in his arms and assure you that nothing would hurt you again, but that was not what you needed now. Setting the clothes next to you on the bed, “I’ll be in the living room if you need me,” before walking out of the room and shutting the door behind him.

Going to the kitchen he starts the pot boiling for tea, a kind you have always said helps when your struggling with the memories. Then he set the table with the tea service and a plate of scones he had made. He had been learning to cook in the hope of impressing you one day. Pouring the now boiling water over the tea leaves in the teapot that matched the tea service he had just set it on the table when you emerge. Immediately crossing to you he looks into your face, “Any better?”

With a grateful smile that stopped Echos heart again you nod, "Thank you Echo." Seeing you blanket closer to yourself he wished he could hold you for reassurance, "What is this place?"

Taking a deep breath he answers, "We don't know what it's called, just that some people come here after they have been shot." Leading you to the table, "There seems to be no pattern in the people brought here though."

You pick up the teapot and pouring out some, "That is odd." You start shaking and set the teapot down hard enough to cause some of it to spill, "Sorry."

Echo quickly crosses to you, "There's nothing to be sorry about." Opening his arms in the silent offer of a hug he looses his breath again when you run into his arms, almost burying yourself into him looking for comfort. Settling down on the bench the two of you remain in the side hug long after your finished with tea and scones. Echo looked down at your head and nodded inwardly, he would keep you safe. He had promised to on the first day he had met you, and would keep that promise until the day he died.

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*Authors Note: If you have requests for other clones and/or Jedi you want to react to this situation feel free. I just started with the Bad Batch because the dream that inspired this had Crosshair and I had to do all of the boys. And I hope that all the Echo lovers are fine with this one. I added Domino Squad there because all of them deserve to be happy.

#the bad batch #tbb #tech bad batch #tbb crosshair #tbb echo #tbb hunter #tbb wrecker #echo x reader #arc trooper echo #domino squad

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