Chapter Text
There is a strange, purplish mist in the air, which smells like sulphur, despite the air filters in his helmet. There’s a shuttle on a platform, his destination. But it isn’t him who is running towards it. It isn’t him who is by the shuttle when it exploded. It isn’t him who gets caught in the explosion.
It is someone else.
Fives jolts awake, panting in distress. He clutches his head, sharp pain spikes in his temples. But he doesn’t care for that.
It is the nightmare that rattled him, made it harder to breathe.
The nightmare about fire, agony, and death. But…not his. Echo’s death. His twin, and the last Domino, apart from himself, still alive.
Fives is used to such dreams, to some extent, at least. They still terrified him, but at least Fives knew what was going to happen.
It isn’t the first time, after all. Before Rishi, before he and Echo lost Hevy, Droidbait and Cutup, he dreamed of them, dissolving into fog, disappearing. Then, he told all his batchmates about it, but only Echo seemed to actually be concerned about it in any way.
Then, before Kamino, the same thing.
And now, they are going to infiltrate the volcanic planet Lola Sayu, to free Jedi Master Even Piell from the Citadel. Fives doesn’t want to know what it meant, but the ugly feeling that settled in his stomach is telling him that he’s right.
Echo is going to die. But not if Fives has anything to say on that matter. He will take his place, if he will have no other choice.
*****
Fives decides not to tell Echo about his dream, since both ARCs had to be focused on their assignment. Mission first, emotions later.
But Echo knows him, knew that something was wrong. As Fives walks towards the machine that was about to freeze him, Echo pulls him to the side.
"Fives, what’s wrong?" Echo asks, care and worry seeping out from his voice, his face.
"It’s…nothing, Echo. Just…don’t really want to end up as wall decoration if General’s plan fails. That’s it." He mutters, and manages a weak smile that’s supposed to look confident. He isn’t sure if he managed to convince Echo that he’s fine, but his twin lets him go, and they both walk to the machine.
Fives stands in the middle of the slab that’s going to be a base of his carbon frozen chamber. As it slides down, he closes his eyes, and tightens his grip on his helmet. A liquid carbon envelopes his body, and instantly, with a hissing sound, freezes over him. Fives knows it takes just a few seconds for his body to freeze, but it seems like ages. And it’s painful. More painful than anything he has ever experienced. He wants to scream, but he can’t. It’s cold. So, so cold. But at the same time, it burns.
Fives is now fully frozen. In terror, he realises that while his vitals are reduced, nearly gone, and he can’t move, he still can feel. He doesn’t want to know how he’s going to last the entire travel to the Citadel.
*****
The warmth hits Fives like an explosion. He can move now, wobbly steps out of the carbon slab that held his body a few seconds ago. And he immediately falls to the ground, unable to keep his balance. His head is throbbing, he’s dizzy and hot. He can’t breathe.
He chokes on the air, helmet clatters on the durasteel platform.
"Fives! Udesii, Fives! Udesii, vod’ika…" Echo’s calm voice and his gentle hand on Fives’s shoulder help a lot. After a while, he sluggishly gets up, picking up his helmet. He puts it on, hiding his slightly sickly pale face.
"You’re good?" Echo’s calm voice asks quietly. Fives nods, and they walk towards the facility.
But the nightmare still lingers in the back of Fives’s mind.
*****
"This shuttle is our only way to escape" Echo tells him, his eyes scanning the platform for the best way to reach it. And it is the moment when Fives feels it. If he doesn’t do anything, Echo will die. So instead of letting Echo run for the shuttle, he shoves his twin back. Echo yelps in surprise, as Fives looks at him one final time. Maybe he’ll manage to get there successfully. Maybe it blows up only if Echo goes. He briefly thinks while he runs, but just in case, he writes a very short message via his HUD, and schedules it’s sending to Echo’s datapad in 10 hours. If it’s not necessary, he’ll cancel it.
Fives takes a deep breath as he reaches the shuttle’s ramp.
"Fives, look out!" Echo’s voice screams through his comm, sounding panicked. Fives looks up, and sees it. A commando droid has taken over a turret and aims it at the shuttle. Fives’s blood runs cold as the plasma streaks through the air, hitting the shuttle behind him.
Next thing he knows is just pain and heat. His helmet is yanked from his head, flames hitting his face. He gets thrown across the platform, debris falling behind him. The sound of the explosion rings in his ears, deafening him. But it’s not enough to stop him from hearing Echo’s frantic scream.
"FIVES!"
Fives wants nothing more than to answer, but…he can’t. He can only scream in excruciating pain, knowing that his brother won’t hear him anyway. He feels the puddle of his own blood growing below him, he knows that he has at least two large shrapnel wounds in his torso, and possibly countless burns. Even if he got medical attention right now, there was nothing to be done for him, except easing his pain. The Republic wouldn’t waste their supplies for a mere clone. ARC Trooper or not. On the bright side, Echo’s alive. And the Seppies wouldn’t bother retrieving and reviving him. Because, why would they even think of it? Fives thinks, and slips to the darkness.