Archive of Our Own

Echo wasn't really sure how he'd gotten into this situation.

It had all begun almost a year ago, when Echo blew himself up at the Citadel while trying to secure a shuttle to leave Lola Sayu. The following year, spent at the hands of the Separatists and then the Techno Union, had unfolded in flashes for Echo, and he remembered very little. He remembered the pain and the non-consensual modifications of his body, which had been transformed into a machine, but above all, he remembered the loneliness and the despair.

Because yes, Echo had lost all hope of ever getting out of here. How could he not? Alone and with his body in this state, he had no chance of escaping alive, and he certainly didn't expect anyone to come looking for him. For that to happen, someone would have to know not only where he was but, more importantly, that he was still alive. And that was something no one could possibly suspect. After all, he had disappeared in a ship explosion, and no one could survive that, not even an ARC trooper.

But Echo had survived and had lived through hell for almost a year.

But all that had ended when Rex came for him. Rex, and a rather strange group of troopers, had pulled him out of stasis and when he found himself in his big brother's arms, he thought he was dreaming. How was this possible? How could Rex be here, pulling Echo out of this hell? Echo could only be dreaming; it was the only explanation. Or he was finally dead and that was the afterlife.

But no, he was still alive and he wasn't dreaming: Rex was really saving him.

Rex and the Bad Batch had gotten Echo out, but the ARC hadn't had time to catch his breath or even get checked by medics because the siege of Anaxes had to be ended. And Echo, knowing the Separatists' strategies since they were partly his own, knew he could play a major role in this campaign.

And indeed, he had helped a great deal and the Republic had finally reclaimed Anaxes, not without difficulty or heavy losses.

And it was only then that Echo was able to get back aboard the Resolute. But before he could even think about resting or anything else, Rex was already escorting him to the medbay.

"Are you sure this is necessary, Rex?" Echo asked, letting his older brother drag him along. "I'm fine!"

Rex raised an eyebrow and looked Echo up and down with a doubtful expression.

"Okay, maybe not entirely fine." Echo conceded. "But there's no need to go straight to the medbay either."

“Three things.” Rex said simply, holding up three fingers. “One, it’s standard procedure for all troopers involved in a campaign to go to the medbay at its conclusion so the medics can declare them fit or unfit for further service. Two, rescued prisoners of war are required to be examined by a medic after their rescue to assess their condition. And three, if you’re not at the medbay within the next 10 minutes, I wouldn’t bet on either of us lasting long.”

Echo had grimaced at Rex's first two points but raised an eyebrow in turn at the last one, not really understanding.

“Kix is ​​not happy at all that you didn't go to the medbay immediately after we got you out of Skako Minor. The only reason he isn't in your face right now is because I promised him I'd bring you to him straight after we got back on the Resolute. And even then, I must have received at least 10 messages from him since we landed.”

"Wow, I know he's sometimes strict about check-ups, but this is a bit much." Echo chuckled.

Rex stopped abruptly and Echo almost ran into him. “Hey! Let me know when you-”

Echo broke off when Rex turned towards him, his brows furrowed and a look that was half furious and half devastated on his face. “Echo, I don't know if you fully realize the situation, your situation.” Rex started cautiously.

"I think I'm in a good position to understand my situation, yes." Echo retorted defensively.

"From your point of view, yes." Rex agreed. "But... you were dead, Echo. More than that, you blew yourself up, right in front of us, and we couldn't do anything about it. And then, a few weeks ago, we found out that you were actually alive the whole time, and we didn't lift a finger to come and get you. And now that we've got you back, you're in this state! No offense, Echo, and you know you'll always be my brother, but have you looked at yourself in a mirror since we got you back?"

"I'm avoiding it." Echo grimaced. "I know what I look like, or at least I have a pretty good idea."

“Well, we can see it. Sorry to put it like this, but you look like…” Rex didn't have the words to say what he really thought without seeming far too abrupt and insensitive.

But obviously, Echo misinterpreted his hesitation. "A droid. I know." Echo stated, his face closed off, as if disgusted by his new appearance.

“No!” Rex immediately shut down. “Never, vod'ika. You will never be able to look like a clanker like that.”

"So what did you mean?" Echo challenged. "I know what I look like, Rex. I'm more droid than—"

“I meant to say that you look more like a corpse than anything else!” Rex interrupted again.

Echo abruptly closed his mouth, not having expected that, allowing Rex to continue. "I'm sorry to put it this way, but it's the truth, vod. You're paler than a sheet; you're so skeletal I can count your ribs through your blacks; you have so many burns and wounds you're almost disfigured; you're covered in all kinds of implants and I-"

Rex took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing. “You frightened us all terribly, Echo, and given your condition, we can hardly imagine everything you've had to endure this past year. So forgive us if we seem too intense and worried, but for once I think—no, I know—that our worries aren't unfounded. So please, let us worry about you and take care of you. Please, kih'vod.”

Towards the end, Rex's tone was almost pleading and bordering on pathetic, but he didn't really care. If it meant Echo would accept the help they wanted to give him, Rex was ready to get down on his knees if necessary.

Thankfully, it seemed that he wouldn't need to go that far since Echo's eyes were wide and shining with tears, the younger one not seeming to know what to say. “I… Sorry Rex, I didn't know that- and…”

"You don't need to say anything, Echo." Rex reassured him. "Just... let Kix examine you for three hours if he wants, and let me take care of you. Please."

Echo nodded. "Okay. Fine, I'll let you fuss over me." He agreed, extending his left arm to Rex again, allowing his brother to guide him towards the medbay.

Rex seemed relieved by this plan and the two of them resumed their journey in silence.

The silence was broken by Echo a few moments later, as they approached their destination. “Rex, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Anything, vod'ika.”

“Where are the others? You're here, and I know we're going to see Kix, but what about the other Torrents? What happened to them?”

Echo was a little afraid to ask that question. They were, after all, soldiers, and a lot could happen in a year.

Rex nodded when he heard his brother's question. He had expected that question.

“Jesse was part of the mission to retrieve you, but we had to split up when Cody was injured. Jesse went back with him for the 212th, but we should have him back soon. He's doing well and was promoted to ARC a few months ago. Tup and Dogma both had some issues, but they're both okay too. They're somewhere aboard the Resolute. They both wanted to jump into your arms as soon as possible, but I managed to convince them to wait a bit because I suspected you wouldn't want an audience to go to the medbay. But they'll be with you whenever you want. Hardcase is doing well too; he's on a special mission but shouldn't be long in returning either.”

Echo nodded, relieved to know his brothers were apparently doing as well as could be expected. He was also trying to hide his frustration because, while he was happy to hear from Jesse, Tup, Dogma, and Hardcase, they weren't the ones he wanted to hear from—not really.

"And Fives?" He dared to ask, a glimmer of concern creeping into him.

After all, why hadn't Rex given him any news about his twin yet? He knew how important Fives and Echo were to each other. So why hadn't he started there?

Could it be that-

No, Echo shouldn't jump to conclusions and he should let Rex answer.

Rex opened his mouth to reply with a neutral face when the doors of the medbay opened wide, Kix coming out like a jack-in-the-box.

Echo was happy to see his medic brother, really, but at that precise moment, he hated him. He was just about to hear from Fives! Especially since he hadn't even had time to learn anything from Rex's impassive face.

"Echo!" Kix cried, rushing towards him.

The medic did not throw himself into the younger man's arms only because he seemed afraid of breaking him at first contact, his hands hesitating over Echo's shoulders; the desire to hug him tightly conflicted with the need not to hurt him even more.

Echo made the decision for him, coming to take Kix in his arms, putting his disappointment and concern about not having learned more about Fives aside for the moment.

“Kix. Great to see you, vod.”

"Echo…" Kix breathed, closing his arms around Echo and holding him close. "Don't ever do that again." The medic asked, his voice hoarse.

"I'll do what I can." Echo promised with a half-smile.

Kix allowed himself a few dozen seconds motionless with Echo in his arms before straightening up, placing his hands on his patient's shoulders and observing him from top to bottom with a critical eye, and Echo felt as if he had been X-rayed.

"Come on, come with me." Kix ordered, pulling Echo into the medbay. "Let's see what state you're in."

“I want to say that I am fine, but I have been informed on several occasions that this answer is neither acceptable nor plausible.”

"I don't know who said that, but these people are full of wisdom. I'm the one who's going to determine whether or not you're okay." Kix nodded, already thinking about the tests he was going to put his little brother through.

Echo nodded in turn, as if resigned, and cast one last look at Rex, who was still in the corridor outside the medbay.

"Go with Kix, kih'vod, I have a few things to take care of but I'll be back soon, I promise." Rex encouraged with a reassuring smile.

Echo nodded again, not that he really had a choice, and disappeared with Kix into the depths of the medbay, where Kix settled him into a rather secluded private room. Echo appreciated the gesture because, without saying he was prudish—very few vode are—he might not have been as comfortable with his new body as he let on.

The next few hours were very busy for Echo. Between interviews, examinations, scans, x-rays, blood tests, EEG, ECG, visual field, hearing test and many other things, Echo didn't have time to get bored.

Then, after finishing his examination of Echo's remaining biological components, Kix moved on to prosthetics and implants. For this, Kix asked Echo for permission to call Tech from the Bad Batch, since Kix's area of ​​expertise didn't extend to prosthetics. Echo readily agreed, having already dealt with the bespectacled Batch member in the past few days and trusting him with his prosthetics.

Tech then came to examine Echo's implants and prostheses with Kix, the two medics talking rapidly about things Echo only caught half a word of. But it didn't bother him too much. He knew that after the discussion, Kix would take the time to go over everything with him before doing anything. In the meantime, he was content just to wait, half-dozing.

Echo was jolted out of his half-sleep when he heard a loud noise and commotion in the medbay. Kix and Tech looked up from the datapad they were leaning over, and Kix smirked. “Ah, looks like your surprise has arrived, Echo.”

"My surprise?" Echo repeated, sitting up a little in bed.

"I think we can call him that, yes." Kix confirmed. "Here, maybe you'd like to put your top back on." He added, handing Echo his black top and helping his put it on.

“What's happening?” Echo asked, confused.

“A better question would be: Who is happening?” Kix corrected with a small, sly smile.

Echo was even more confused, but it didn't last long because his bedroom door opened wide, revealing none other than…

“Fives!” Echo exclaimed when he finally saw his twin.

“Echo!” Fives replied in the same tone, frozen in the doorway.

Echo was more than relieved to finally know his brother was alive, and a wide smile stretched across his face. But instead of smiling back, Fives burst into tears, collapsing against the doorframe.

“Fives…” Echo murmured, touched by his twin's distress.

Unable to do nothing, Echo went to get up to join his brother, but before he could finish standing up, Fives jumped to his feet.

“Don't move!” He cried out, eyes wide and panicked.” Don't move, Eyayah, you… You don't… and-”

Tears were still flowing freely down Fives' cheeks and Echo felt completely helpless. "Then come here." He ordered. "I'm willing to stay in this bed, but if I can't come to you, you'll come to me."

Fives nodded his head almost frantically and staggered two steps forward, freezing about two meters from Echo's bed.

The cyborg opened his mouth to repeat that he should come closer but stopped when Fives briefly turned away from him to look at Kix, who had stepped back a little but had remained present for the meeting between the two Dominos.

“Kix, he…”

"You can go ahead." The medic assured him. "Don't jump on him completely, but you're not going to break him with the slightest contact."

That was all Fives needed to finally advance with trembling steps to Echo, collapsing to his knees beside the bed and letting his head fall onto the mattress, level with the tops of his brother's thighs, his body wracked by horrible sobs.

“Oh Fives…” Echo whispered, distraught by his brother’s distress.

Fortunately, Fives had positioned himself on Echo's left side, so the latter was able to gently place his remaining hand on his brother's head, gently stroking his hair.

"I'm here, vod." He said in a low voice. "I'm here and I'm doing as well as can be. I'm not going anywhere. I'm sorry I scared you and left you alone for so long, but I promise I'm here and I'm not leaving again." Echo reassured him gently.

Fives did not respond for several long minutes, content to let his sobs shake his body, his emotions far too great and chaotic to hope to do anything other than let them have free rein to express themselves as they wished.

Then, when he finally managed to calm down at least a little, Fives sat up so he could look at his brother better, really look at him.

And what he found was so horrible that he felt the tears begin to flow again. "Oh Echo…" He breathed, devastated. "You're alive." 

Echo did not respond verbally but drew his brother close to him, resting his forehead against Fives' and closing his eyes, simply enjoying his presence.

“I'm here. I'm alive and I'm okay. I know it might not look like it, but I'm okay. It's not as bad as it looks.”

On the other side of the room, Kix made a small, muffled noise, as if to express his disagreement with Echo's last point, but a look from Echo silenced him. This wasn't the time to list all the reasons why Echo was not doing well. He would have time for that when Fives was feeling a bit better and the Dominos had had time to reconnect after a year and numerous highly traumatic events without seeing each other.

And now that Fives had calmed down slightly and Echo seemed to have the situation under control, Kix could leave them alone for a while. The medic then left the room and met up with Tech, who had left well before him, in the corridor.

"Come on, let's leave them alone for now. We can continue talking about Echo and his prosthetics without them."

"Agreed. Does the Resolute have a prosthetics expert on board?" Tech asked, barely looking up from his datapad, following Kix.

Kix chuckled slightly before replying. “General Skywalker.”

At that, Tech looked up from his screen, frowning. “Would the General be willing to answer some questions regarding prostheses?”

"It's getting him to shut up that'll be complicated once we start talking to him about prosthetics." Kix sighed, shaking his head with a slightly desperate look.

Tech nodded, seeming satisfied. “He seems to me to be a perfect candidate in this case.”

Kix couldn't help but agree. When it came to mechanics, their Jedi was truly the most skilled person Kix knew, and prosthetics even more so. The General had once let Kix examine his prosthetic upper limb, and the medic had been impressed. Skywalker's prosthesis was more advanced than anything he had ever seen, and the young Jedi had confessed to having made and improved it himself. Since then, the General had crafted additional prosthetics whenever soldiers of the 501st were injured and required the use of one or more prosthetics to remain with the legion.

Kix had no doubt that his General would jump at the chance to discuss Echo's prosthetics and help in the creation of new ones.

Echo then spent a few days in the infirmary, undergoing several operations to try to repair the damage caused by the abuse and neglect of the Separatists and, if necessary, to find solutions to make his daily life easier.

For example, part of Echo's intestines had been extensively damaged during the explosion and his captivity, and despite the medics’ intervention, they had not been able to restore this part to working order, and had therefore had to create a colostomy.

They had also had to implant a cardiac pacemaker and a phrenic nerve stimulation system to help Echo's heart and lungs, which were definitely not in good condition.

During those few days, Kix and Clem, a trooper specializing in food and nutrition, had also devised a plan to get Echo back to eating normally. With his stomach damaged and kept in stasis for much of that time, the Separatists hadn't bothered to feed him properly, so in addition to being dehydrated and severely malnourished, Echo's digestive system was no longer able to process solid or rich food. He therefore needed to be re acclimated to a normal diet, even though Clem had made it clear that it was still too early to know if Echo would ever be able to eat completely normally again.

And there was also the issue of his prosthetics and implants, which were currently completely unsuitable for an independent life unplugged from all sorts of machines. As planned, Kix had taken care of this aspect with Kix and General Skywalker, who, as expected, had been happy to help them design new prosthetics that were lighter, more efficient, and less painful.

All these interventions, operations and other things were extremely exhausting for Echo, but fortunately, he wasn't alone.

Firstly, because Kix was never far away and remained in charge of his care, even in areas where he wasn't an expert. Secondly, a good portion of the Torrent Company—that is, Tup, Dogma, Hardcase (who was originally with Fives), and Jesse (who had returned from the 212th)—dropped by regularly when Echo was free. But above all, there was Fives, who hadn't left his twin's side since they'd been reunited. Whether Echo was conscious, unconscious, waiting, undergoing tests, sleeping or whatever, Fives was there. Always there, providing silent or not so silent support, depending on what Echo needed. Fives was glued to Echo, Echo was glued to Fives, and neither of them would have wanted it any other way.

The first night, Kix had tried to kick Fives out of the medbay to let Echo rest, but after sending Fives back to his dorm three times in barely two hours, the medic gave up and simply had a cot set up in Echo's room. This cot proved completely useless, as Fives preferred to sleep in Echo's bed, snuggled up to him as tightly as he could without hurting him.

Kix gave up after that, leaving the twins as stuck together as conjoined twins.

At the end of those few days when Echo was allowed to leave the medbay, came the question of what would happen now.

Echo of course still had a place in the 501st, in the Torrent Company, alongside his brothers and Fives, but he hesitated.

Even if Kix, the other medics, Tech, Skywalker, and many others had done what they could, it was clear that Echo would never regain the body or physical condition he had before Lola Sayu. This meant that no matter what he did, he would never regain the physique of an ARC trooper, always ready to go on missions and remain in the trenches for weeks on end.

And even though Echo was certain that Rex was ready to adjust his schedule and missions to accommodate his new limitations and needs, Echo didn't want to be even more different from the other members of the 501st.

Furthermore, even though Fives, Rex, and the others were doing their best to protect him, Echo had seen the looks on some of the Vode’s faces. Looks filled with fear, but also disgust, even hatred. Disgust at his new appearance, hatred because of the information forcibly extracted from Echo's brain and used against the Republic, against the clones.

And even though his brothers more than made up for this negative attention, Echo wasn't sure he could live and work with people who hated him or were disgusted by him.

So in summary, in an ideal world, Echo needed an environment where mission parameters could adapt to his new needs, with people who didn't think badly of him for what he had suffered and who wouldn't judge him for his appearance.

It's not easy to find a team like that.

But luckily for him, Echo didn't have to look for very long because a team of this kind offered itself to him while he hadn't even realized yet that he might not stay with the 501st.

Hunter from the Bad Batch had indeed offered Echo a place alongside them, even before he was admitted to the medbay upon his return to the Resolute. And while Echo hadn't immediately responded, mentally assuming he would likely refuse, he was increasingly considering accepting the offer to join the Bad Batch.

Clone Force 99 was, after all, a small team with missions very different from those of a typical battalion. This team consisted entirely of genetically modified clones, all different from one another, who wouldn't look down on Echo just because he didn’t look like the others.

And apparently, they wanted him to join them. Because if Hunter had been the one to propose it, Echo knew enough about how this team operated to know that the sergeant would never have suggested something to which his brothers were radically opposed.

From the few days he had spent with them when they had taken him out of Skako Minor and right after when they had taken over Anaxes, Echo really liked Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair and Hunter and he could easily imagine living and working with them.

At first glance, it seemed there were only positive aspects to leaving the 501st Legion and joining Clone Force 99. But there was one thing, one person, that stopped Echo in his decision.

Fives.

Fives was just about the only thing preventing Echo from immediately accepting Hunter's proposal.

Because if Echo really wanted to join the Bad Batch, he wanted even more to stay by Fives’s side after finally finding him again.

And besides, Fives shared the same opinion.

Echo was still at the medbay, waiting for the results of the last blood test so Kix could release him, and he was thinking about everything. Since he kept coming back to the same problem, he decided to talk to the person in question about it.

"I was thinking." He began simply.

"Dangerous activity." Fives scoffed, putting down his datapad and immediately refocusing on his twin.

Echo responded to this in a very mature way, by sticking his tongue out at his brother.

"What were you thinking about?" Fives asked again, slightly more serious.

“What’s next.”

“What’s next? You mean after the war?”

“No, the next step now. More specifically, what I'm going to do.”

"I don't understand, Echo. You're going back to the Torrent Company and continuing missions alongside us, just like you have since the beginning of the war. That's the plan, isn't it?" Fives asked, confused.

“That was the plan, yes. The thing is, I don’t know anymore. Even with the miracles Kix and the medics have performed, and the new prosthetics the General helped make, I'll never get back to my old form. I'll never be able to keep up with the other troopers.”

"We don't care about the others. You'll go at your own pace, and I know Rex will adapt the missions he sends you on so as not to put you in danger. And I'll be by your side to help and protect you if necessary."

“I know, but that's not all.”

"So what is it?" Fives asked, growing increasingly impatient and worried.

“The looks.” Echo finally blurted out.

“The looks? What looks?”

“ The troopers who see me as a droid or a traitor. I'm not blind, Fives, and even though you've tried to protect me and reprimand those you caught, I know it won't stop. I'll never look like a regular clone again; I'm proportionally more metal than flesh, and it was my strategies and information that were used against the Republic.”

“Against your will!” Fives insisted.

“I know. And even though I know it, it's going to take a while before I stop feeling responsible. But that's not the point. The fact is, these troopers hold me responsible, and there's nothing I can do to change that.”

"I'll change that! And so will Rex! There's no way our own vode are going to hold you responsible for something you're just as much a victim of as they are. You're the hero of Anaxes Echo! It's thanks to you that we were able to end the siege and win this campaign."

"And it's also because of me, because of what Wat Tambor retrieved from my brain, that the siege lasted so long.” Echo argued. “You won't be able to change their minds, Fives."

Fives was clearly not happy with the way this was going, and it showed. Echo was a hero and deserved to be treated as such! What bothered him even more was Echo's reaction. It was as if his twin was saddened by this behavior, but also strangely resigned.

"So what's the plan? Let them talk and just endure it?" Fives asked, not understanding where this conversation was going, or not wanting to understand.

“No. I don't think I'm capable of working and living with people who don't trust me and are hostile to my presence.”

“So what?”

“I could request a transfer and join another battalion, but I'll face the same problems. Or I could join an independent team.”

Fives was clearly confused, his brows furrowed and his anxiety growing. He had a bad feeling, which proved to be well-founded in his brother's next words.

"Hunter offered me a place in the Bad Batch. And I think I'll take it." Echo stated.

Fives felt as if the ground was opening up beneath his feet, his stomach and heart in free fall. "W-What?" He stammered, his eyes widening. "You want... You want to leave the 501st?"

Echo sighed. “I don’t know yet, Fives… But the more I think about it, the more advantages I see. The Bad Batch is an independent team with missions very different from those of a regular battalion; missions better suited to my new physical abilities and so on. And they’re all different from the regular clones. They don’t look at me strangely because I don’t look like the others. They’re ready to accept me among them, and even more than that, they want me to join them.”

Fives was silent, shocked by the news and struggling to take it all in.

“If I join Clone Force 99, I will be with vode who know what it is like to be different, who each have their own particularities, and I could carry out missions normally, without them needing to be modified.”

"If they're so great, why didn't you leave with them already?" Fives asked bitterly. He was really trying to be happy for Echo, and he knew, logically, that Echo's arguments made sense and that joining the Bad Batch would be good for his brother. But he couldn't help it. He'd just reunited with Echo, and what did he want? To leave again already? To leave Fives behind again after assuring him just a few days earlier that he wasn't leaving? He was having a hard time accepting it.

Echo immediately noticed his twin's change in tone and understood. That's why he didn't take offense and continued the conversation as normal. “But every time I think about leaving the 501st and joining Hunter and the others, I always get stuck at the same point. No matter how I look at it, I come to the same conclusion.”

"And what is it?" asked Fives, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's impossible for me to leave you behind." Echo declared with complete certainty.

Fives, who expected anything but this, stared wide-eyed. "What?" He asked, in a completely eloquent manner.

Echo sighed again before continuing. “Even though I want to join the Bad Batch and I think their way of doing things would be a better fit for me, I can’t just leave the 501st while you’re still there. I promised you a few days ago that I wouldn’t leave you again and that we would stay together; those weren’t empty words. Yes, I want to join Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, and Crosshair, but I want to stay by your side even more, Fives. I can’t, and I don’t want us to be separated again. But I also can’t stay in a legion that’s hostile to me, so I’m stuck. I don’t know what to do, vod.” He finished in a whisper.

Fives remained silent for a little while longer before getting up from his chair and approaching Echo, taking his twin in his arms and hugging him tightly.

"I don't know what to do, Fives." Echo mumbled, his voice muffled against his brother.

“Shh, you don't need to make a decision now.”

"I can't wait too long either. The Bad Batch has other things to do than wait for me to make a decision." Echo opposed, tears welling in his eyes.

He didn't know what to do. The last few days had been incredibly busy, he was still exhausted, and now he had to make this impossible choice.

Fives did not respond immediately, gently stroking his brother's back to calm him down, and finally offered something. "What if I arranged a meeting for you with Hunter and Rex? You could discuss your options with them. What Rex could do to accommodate you if you want to stay in the 501st, and the same for Hunter? Do you think it would help to talk openly with both of them?"

It was Echo's turn not to answer right away, thinking about what his brother was proposing, turning the problem over and over in his mind.

"Would you come with me?" He asked in a small voice.

"If that's what you want." Fives immediately agreed.

He didn't need to think to answer that question. Fives was ready to do anything for his brother, even desert and leave his battalion to go into hiding on the other side of the galaxy. If that's what Echo needed, Fives would do it without hesitation.

 Well, in the end, Fives didn't end up having to desert. However, he did leave his battalion to follow Echo to the far reaches of the galaxy.

After the discussion with Rex and Hunter, they had reached a compromise of sorts.

Echo would indeed leave the 501st to join Clone Force 99, a team better suited to his needs; but he wouldn't go alone. No, Fives would also leave the 501st Legion to join the Bad Batch with Echo.

Initially, some Batcher (*cough*Crosshair*cough*) were not overly enthusiastic about the idea of ​​a Reg, a real one, joining their little group, but they all eventually got used to the idea.

And even though he was initially skeptical himself, Fives quickly adapted to the Bad Batch, and less than three months after they joined Clone Force 99, Echo and Fives felt right at home. This team operated very differently from anything they had ever experienced, but they weren't complaining. The team's unique structure allowed them to adapt to Echo's needs, and he didn't have to push himself as hard as he likely would have if he had stayed with the 501st.

Fives, for his part, was simply happy to be reunited with his twin and to be able to spend entire days by his side, but he had to admit that he enjoyed the Bad Batch's unconventional methods. Without a Jedi General to oversee their every move, they had free rein over the methods they used to complete the mission, and Fives really liked that.

Obviously, he and Echo were in contact with their 501st vode from time to time, but they integrated well into the Bad Batch, creating a new family with this group of mismatched clones.

The Domino twins had integrated so well into the Bad Batch that about 3 months after joining them, following a particularly successful mission, Hunter, Tech, Wrecker and Crosshair had a little surprise in store for them.

"Alright." Wrecker began once they were all changed and on their way to their next mission. "You've been with us for a while now and we like you, it's time you officially joined our squad!"

"I thought Fives and I were already officially part of Clone Force 99?" Echo said, glancing at his twin to make sure he hadn't misunderstood. But Fives looked just as lost as Echo.

"On paper, yes. But until now you weren't fully part of our team." Hunter clarified. "You're missing something for that."

Fives raised an eyebrow. “And what are we missing?”

Hunter did not reply but turned his head towards Crosshair, who took a small machine out of a separate box and began to manipulate it.

"I hope none of you are afraid of needles." The sniper drawled with a very slight, sly smile.

"I'm covered in ports and implants and Fives literally has a tattoo on his face." Echo deadpaned, pointing to his brother's 5.

“Good. Because you're getting a new tattoo.”

"What do you mean?" Fives asked, bewildered.

“In Clone Force 99, we all have a tattoo of our unit symbol, which consists of a skull with the number 99 in Aurebesh script beneath it.” Tech's explained, without looking up from his datapad. “Hunter and Crosshair, just like you, Fives, have also chosen to adorn their bodies with these hard-to-ignore facial tattoos, but all four of us have our symbol tattooed somewhere. Hunter's is on the inside of his right forearm, Wrecker's is on his lower back, Crosshair's is on his right thigh, and mine is on my left arm. Getting this tattoo will mark you as part of our squad, our family.”

Echo and Fives looked at each other for a moment. They hadn't expected this at all. When they'd joined the Bad Batch after rescuing Echo, they hadn't expected to one day be part of the team alongside Hunter, Crosshair, Tech, and Wrecker. They'd expected to always be the outsiders, the ones who came from the outside and hadn't grown up with them. And that was fine with them. They already felt privileged to be able to live and work with these incredible Vode, so joining the tight-knit ranks of their family seemed forever out of reach.

When the Batchers offered them the opportunity to officially join their family after barely 3 months of working together, it seemed too good to be true.

“Well, is it for today or tomorrow?” Crosshair grumbled after a few minutes of silence.

“It’s just- Are you sure?” Echo stammered.

“Of?”

"Of us having your tattoo." Fives completed. "After all, we're not really part of your squad. We're just additions."

“And you're being adopted.” Crosshair stated. “Now, where do you want your tattoo?”

"We're Regs!" Fives exclaimed.

"Don't make us regret picking you up." The sniper growled. "Where do you want your tattoo?" He repeated.

"Are you sure about this?" Echo asked one last time.

"Force, those two are thick." Crosshair muttered. "We've been telling you for half an hour, over and over again, that you're one of us. Don't try to understand, just smile and tell me where you want your fucking tattoo before I change my mind."

Echo and Fives, still a little shocked, quickly looked at Hunter, Wrecker, and Tech and quickly realized they were definitely in agreement with Crosshair. Then, with one last quick glance at each other, the Domino twins nodded.

"I'd like it on my right shoulder, please." Echo asked.

"And me on the left hip." Fives added.

“There you go. See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Crosshair rolled his eyes. “Who starts?”

And as Echo took off his top to leave his shoulder free for the group's tattoo artist, Echo and Fives exchanged one last look.

Yes, they were going to be happy in this team, in this family.