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It had been almost a month since Fox had joined the Bad Batch. Well joined was a bit of a stretch in Echo’s opinion. Fox had refused to assist them on missions for Cid, opting to stay on the ship and watch Omega. While Hunter appreciated the gesture Echo had argued that the extra hands would be more useful than keeping an eye on Omega, who was perfectly capable of watching herself.
Other than that general annoyance Echo had mostly been avoiding Fox. It was hard to say if Fox had noticed this but the rest of the batch didn’t seem worried. Hunter had explained to him that Fox had always been solitary from the batch and he wasn’t surprised that after everything with the war he was more closed off. Echo didn’t really care since it meant he saw less of the former commander.
Echo wasn’t too familiar with Fox before the Citadel. He vaguely remembered the 501st joking about how droid like the Marshal Commander of the Coruscant Guard was after a few too many arrests after a night out on leave. Since Echo tended to stay out of trouble he never met any of the guard except for his and Fives’s fellow twin batch mates Thire and Wraps. After Rex and the Bad Batch had rescued him from Skako Minor he’d heard Fox’s name again but this time in reference to Fives. Learning that his twin had been murdered by a fellow clone was a hard fact for Echo to process. He’d come to terms with everything at this point but that was before he had to share a small ship with his twin’s killer.
Echo didn’t really know what he wanted from Fox. He doubted that the other clone even knew who he was. He did wonder if Fox remembered Fives. Maybe his death was business as usual for the marshal commander. Really he just wanted a chance to speak to Fox in private so he could ask him about the whole situation. However, there hadn’t been an opportunity given the small space of the Marauder and how busy they’d been with work lately.
Echo got his chance one evening when he found himself unable to sleep. Normally Echo would read something on his pad but he had loaned it to Omega for the night and the girl was curled around the device. Not wanting to disturb the kid Echo decided to go sit in the cockpit for a while with whoever was on watch. Echo didn’t know who was up and he didn’t check the bunks before he wandered to the front of the ship.
When he walked into the cockpit at first he thought it was empty. Normally when a brother was on watch they’d be spread out in one or more of the chairs, usually facing to the side so that if someone came in they wouldn’t be surprised. Echo did eventually notice a knee poking out from the copilot’s chair. Without much thought Echo walked over and took the pilot’s chair. It took until he turned to rest his feet on the console before he realized who he was sitting next to.
Fox, for his part, seemed equally surprised to see Echo. The other clone was sitting cross legged in the chair with his hands resting on top of each other, face up, in his lap. The other clone was only dressed in his dark shirt and pants which was why it was harder for Echo to spot him. With his arm bracers off Echo could see more of the scars that ran along both of Fox’s arms and hands. The two sat in silence for a moment, neither really knowing what to say.
“What are you doing up?” Fox finally spoke. His voice sounded tired so Echo figured it was close to the end of his shift.
“I couldn’t sleep.” Echo shrugged. He’d been imagining what to say if he had Fox alone for weeks now but when he was sitting across from he was at a bit of a loss. “Why are you sitting like that?”
“I was meditating.” Fox answered briefly. He shifted his position, bringing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them loosely.
There was another long silence as Echo worked out where to start with his questions. He eventually decided to ease his way into the main point.
“You were stationed on Coruscant during the war, right?” Echo asked. “I bet that was different from the front lines.”
“I imagine so.” Fox’s gaze remained on the view screen, watching the lights speed by. “I never saw too much combat outside of a few missions.”
“It felt like the opposite for me. I can probably count on my hand the number of times I was on triple zero.”
“I remember the 501st taking plenty of leave. Were you just unlucky with placements?”
“Nah it had more to do with being a P.O.W. for a majority of the war.” Echo stated bluntly but with a slight smile. It had taken a lot of time with the Bad Batch to get over his feelings about the Techno Union but he had gotten to a point where he was able to joke about it.
“That’s probably for the best though. There aren’t many places in the galaxy worse than Coruscant.” Fox gave a weak smile at his own joke.
“Really?” Echo was genuinely curious and a bit annoyed. “You think babysitting senators is really worse than being an experiment for the Separatists?"
“The senators were about what you’d expect for natborns. It was all the assassins that made our job difficult. Though the Chancellor was almost worse than Gervious.” Fox rubbed a fractal scar on his hand absentmindedly.
“Oh yeah I bet that old wind bag was so annoying. Always giving you a million pointless tasks to do.” Echo was starting to get rather annoyed with Fox. He was acting like his paper pushing was worse than a battalion that was losing brothers on every mission. The anger was barely concealed by sarcasm. “I can definitely see how that’s tougher than the front lines.”
“Something like that, yeah.” Fox’s voice was still very flat. His hand shifted from rubbing his scar to rolling a gold bead on his bracelet. “But the Chancellor always had a reason behind everything he ordered.”
“Oh yeah, is that what helps you sleep at night?”
“Don’t act like you agreed with everything you were told to do.” Fox turned to face him though his face and voice were still neutral.
“At least I never killed brothers when I had a choice.” Echo spat.
“Yet you need to add that caveat.” Fox’s stare hardened.
“At least I have the ability to feel guilt about my actions. And I didn’t have a choice in what I did.” Echo sat up from his relaxed position and crossed his arms. “I may look more like a machine but you act like one.”
“Is it really so hard for you to just say what this is about?”
“So you know what I want then?”
“I imagine you want an apology for Fives.” Fox responded looking back towards the viewpoint.
“Oh you imagine!” Echo was quick to snap his jaw closed after the shout. He took a deep breath before continuing so he could keep his voice down. “If I was in your position I would have apologized much sooner.”
“What would you have done if I was the one who brought it up? Disown me like your ori’vod? Attempt to kill me like your general?” Fox frowned. “The way I see it, nothing you can do will change facts.”
“I would have known that you regretted it enough to apologize. I know nothing can bring him back but it’s worse to have to share a small ship with his unapologetic killer.”
“I doubt my excuses would make anything better.” Fox had gone back to tracing the scars on his hand again.
“Then don’t make excuses.” Echo ground out. “Tell me the truth.”
“If you’re sure.” Fox’s eyes drifted to meet Echo’s for a moment before darting away. He let out a short sigh before beginning his explanation. “I was on patrol when I received a report that a rogue clone had attempted to assassinate the Chancellor. When I was told that he was still at large I sent out the all points bulletin to the rest of my men and began to search for the clone. My squad and I managed to corner him in the warehouse district. Somehow he’d ended up with a blaster and was threatening my men. I ordered him to stand down and in response he aimed at one of my guard. I had no choice but to follow procedure and eliminate the threat.”
Echo was angry before but now he was positively livid. Listening to Fox explain the act of murder in such a procedural manner was sickening. It was like he was one of the clones acting under the inhibitor chip. Just stating things bluntly as if his actions were perfectly understandable.
“Why didn’t you stun him?” Echo growled as he surged to his feet, rounding on Fox. “You took away his chance to stand trial.”
“It wouldn’t have made much of a difference.” Fox clasped his hands together tightly. “The punishment for treason is death. He would have lived a bit longer in a cell before being sentenced to death.”
Echo knew that Fox’s words were true but it didn’t make them sting any less. Fox spoke about his twin’s death like it was inevitable but that wasn’t true. If Fox had let Fives stand trial then General Skywalker and Senator Amidala could have explained his actions. Fives could have had a chance to survive but Fox had denied him that.
“Vod kyramud! (Brother killer!)” Echo spat. The anger that had been simmering in Echo throughout the whole conversation finally came to a head. Without much thought Echo punched Fox across the face.
The punch wasn’t terribly strong since Echo was still unused to using his left hand for melee combat. Regardless of the strength of the blow Fox still fell out of the chair and onto the floor of the cockpit. The other clone scrambled into a kneeling position with his forearms pressed to the ground. His hands twisted into his hair, pulling tightly. If Echo was thrown off by Fox’s behavior then he was even more shocked by his frantic words.
“Ni ceta hiibi be’chaaj gar vod. (I’m sorry I took away your brother.)” Fox muttered, a thickness in his voice giving away how close he was to tears. Maybe he was crying but Echo couldn’t see his face. “Ni ganar gaanad. Kaysh jurkadir aka’liit. (I never had a choice. He threatened my family.)”
Echo found that all he could do was stand there dumbly as Fox choked out the apologies over and over. Right as he was about to go wake up Hunter (he was the best at dealing with vode in distress) the cockpit door opened.
Tech for his part only looked mildly surprised by the scene in front of him. He paused briefly to adjust his goggles and take in the two others before he walked over to Echo.
“What exactly is going on, if I might ask?” Tech’s voice was even but there was a slight hint of concern.
“I don’t really know.” Echo replied lamely. He didn’t exactly want to admit that he’d likely just triggered Fox with their argument. “We were just talking and then…”
“I see.” Tech nodded skeptically as he knelt down to sit in front of Fox. He checked Fox’s attention by snapping his fingers in front of his face and attempting to get the other to respond to simple questions. When Fox did nothing except continue his stuttered manta Tech turned his attention back to Echo. He stayed near Fox and even rested a hand on his shoulder which Fox didn’t seem to react to. “Do you know what it is that he keeps saying?"
“He’s apologizing.” Echo rubbed the back of his neck. “Also mentioning something about someone threatening his family.”
“And you have no idea what could have brought this on?” Tech asked.
“Maybe he had one of his force visions.”
“Those do not typically affect him while he is conscious. Is it possible that something you two were discussing triggered him?”
“It could be.” Echo drawled. “We were just talking about Coruscant though.”
“That could be the source.” Tech nodded, pulling out his datapad and quickly typing away on it. Though he kept one of his hands on Fox’s shoulder the whole time. “From what I have been able to gather about Fox’s triggers he has many unpleasant experiences on Coruscant. Though that is hardly surprising given that he spent a majority of his time there. What in particular did you mention before his episode started?”
“Well…” Echo figured that Tech wouldn’t be too mad at him if he was honest. Tech was more levelheaded than Wrecker or even Hunter when it came to accidentally triggering a brother. “I may have asked him to explain what happened with Fives.”
“Hmm,” Tech hummed as he scrolled on his pad for a moment. “That topic would likely cause this reaction. Fox has explained many times that he is regretful of many of the actions that the Chancellor ordered him to perform. He confided in Hunter, Wrecker, and myself very soon after joining us that he thought there would be quite a bit of tension between you two due to his murder of your brother. Although he did ask us not to mention that to you.”
“I didn’t know that.” Echo stated dumbly.
“I would not expect you to. If anything has remained constant about Fox over the years it has been his secrecy and insistence on isolation.” Tech explained as he coaxed Fox to relax his hold on his hair, instead replacing his own hands in the other’s tight grip. “Getting the little information we have on his triggers has been an uphill battle. I am only surprised that things like this do not happen more often. I am sure there are many things that we casually do or discuss that Fox finds distressing but to get him to admit to them is unlikely.”
Echo didn’t know how to reply to that. Everyone on the ship had their issues but they were all decent at making those boundaries known to each other. It was easy enough to say that something bothered you and without any further explanation the rest of the batch would nod and avoid the topic or action. Echo had always appreciated that about Clone Force 99. It was part of the reason he’d adapted to their squad so easily.
Until now he’d chalked up the fact that Fox was closed off as a personal issue between the two of them. Thinking back though Fox usually hung off to the side on his own. Sure he’d play games with Wrecker and Omega if they asked or go shopping with the group if someone insisted but he never initiated those interactions. Maybe Echo should have paid more attention to the group’s newest member. Well he probably shouldn’t have punched him more than anything but Echo couldn’t undo what he’d done.
“Would you mind grabbing a blanket for me?” Tech’s words broke Echo out of his train of thought. Tech had shifted one of his hands out of Fox’s and was taking his pulse idly. Echo also noticed that Fox had stopped mumbling and his body looked more relaxed. As if reading the question on his face Tech explained. “His hyperventilating caused an oxygen deprivation that rendered him unconscious. His vitals are normal other than that and his breathing has returned to normal.”
Echo nodded and quickly left to grab the blanket Tech had asked for. When he returned Tech had managed to set Fox back in the copilot’s chair. Echo would never get used to how much Tech could lift despite his slight frame but he didn’t comment on it as he handed the blanket over. Tech nodded his thanks as he wrapped the fabric around Fox’s shoulders. Once he’d settled the blanket his hand trailed over a bruise that was forming on Fox’s cheek.
“Do you have any clue where this came from?” Tech asked, fixing Echo with a quizzical look.
“I think he hit his face when he fell out of the chair.” Echo lied. He didn’t want to own up to hitting Fox at the moment. Really he just wanted to get back to his bunk so he didn’t have to keep staring at Fox.
“I see.” Tech appeared to believe the lie. “Well I am on watch now. You are welcome to stay here if you would like but I was going to be doing research so I doubt I will be good company.”
“Nah it’s fine.” Echo shrugged, turning to leave. “I think I’m going to try and get some more sleep.”
“Alright, have a good rest.”
“Thanks.”
With that Echo left the cockpit and went back to lay on his bunk. He did want to get some sleep but his mind was still reeling. Maybe he’d been quick to judge Fox. His lack of emotion when he spoke made Echo sure that he didn’t care about anything. But the more he thought about it the more the behavior looked more like some of the veteran clones who had seen too much battle. The lack of emotion was a way of coping when their feelings were too intense. Sure Fox had been stationed on Coruscant the ‘paperwork planet’ but he was also a Jedi who survived Order 66. He had also seemed genuine with his apology in the end. It was something to explore in the future, preferably with less violence.
Echo made a silent vow to himself to get to know Fox better. Fox would definitely try harder to avoid him after their interaction tonight but Echo always liked a challenge. With that matter settled he did manage to drift off to sleep.