Disclaimer: I do not the cartoon show Star Wars: The Clone Wars or anything affiliated with it.
Setting: Interlude in CT-21-0408 a.k.a. ARC Trooper Echo's head
Not many people noticed Echo. Though he was an ARC trooper, he was quiet. The only brother quieter than Echo was Chopper, and Chopper wasn't a brother person. When Echo did speak, it was usually to spout some fact or regulation or, on rare occasions, the exact lyrics to a bawdy drinking song. He appeared to be nothing like his best friend Fives.
Echo, however, saw and heard a lot more than his brothers gave him credit for. He knew things no one else did.
Echo knew the exact amount of rations it took to keep the troopers at optimal functioning. He knew how fast it took a trooper to die from blood loss from a blaster shot and how long it took for that same trooper to go into shock from a lost limb.
He knew that Senator Chuchi and Chopper were in love and that the other clone snuck away to see her sometimes, except the one time she had snuck into the barracks in the middle of the night.
He knew that General Kenobi kept a very illegal bottle of an alcoholic substance stashed under his bunk and drank it when Skywalker crashed yet another fighter or ended up in a bacta tank.
He knew that Jesse as angry at Gus because of something that happened on Kamino that had humiliated Jesse. Equally, he knew that Gus was angry at Jesse for what he thought was a complete overreaction and that the last time Gus had seen Jesse, he had spiked Jesse's caff with a laxative.
He knew that his General was far fonder of Senator Amidala than a Jedi should be. His eyes lit up whenever he saw the Senator, and he muttered a lot under his breath, usually swear words, when he heard she had taken larger risks than was expected of her station.
He knew the exact layout of the Senate's budget and how much debt they were in to the Banking Clans.
He knew that Kix had a serious disagreement with Coric on how to treat nerve injuries and the two hadn't spoke for three days because of it. He knew that it had stemmed from Coric treating a man from Torrent Company who hadn't healed right and was sent back to Kamino.
He knew that Fives had once killed a separatist agent by breaking his neck instead of shooting him and that while the incident had shaken his brother, it hadn't shaken him near as much as it should have.
He knew the exact amount of fuel and energy it took to keep the Resolute running at optimum.
He knew that Commander Cody had been in the same training rotation as Sergeant Slick on Kamino and that the commander had been surly for a month after the sergeant was revealed as a traitor.
He knew that Gree admired his General more than he should and that she had cried once on his shoulder after she thought her Padwan Barriss Offee was dead.
He knew that the Resolute's cook, a brother named Jak, secretly spiked the caff for the third shift.
Despite not gossiping, Echo knew a lot more than anyone gave him credit for. There was something that Echo didn't know though.
He didn't know what was going to happen to his Commander, Jedi Padwan Ahsoka Tano, the one female every man in Torrent Company would die for. He didn't know what would happen when the Jedi found out how attached Ahsoka was not only to Torrent Company, but to the Captain.
He didn't know if she would die in battle, another too young Jedi casualty. He didn't know how she would handle her ever growing anger at the Jedi Council. He didn't know if General Skywalker would ever see his padwan as the growing young woman she was. He didn't know if General Kenobi would ever see her as anything but his former apprentice's padwan.
He didn't know how his captain and commander where going to handle the relationship that was budding between them. He didn't know how Ahsoka would react if Rex died in battle. He didn't know if Rex would allow himself to truly enjoy Ahsoka's instinctive trust and fierce loyalty. He didn't know if Ahsoka knew that Rex tried to see her as nothing else but a Jedi padwan because if Rex let himself see her as a woman, he'd want her too much. He didn't know if Ahsoka would let herself fall in love with Rex. He didn't know if Rex would ever admit to himself that he was in love with the commander.
There was a lot Echo didn't know about the commander and the captain, and the uncertainties sometimes woke him up at night.
Most of all, Echo didn't know what had happened on the secret mission that had resulted in a bleeding Ahsoka dressed in nothing more than a skimpy stage outfit showing up at the Resolute with huge eyes and a too quiet Rex.
No, Echo knew none of this, but he was soon going to realize that something had deeply shaken the relationship between his captain and commander and that their relationship would change, irreparable from something no one could comprehend.
What the ARC trooper had never predicted was that he was going die only months after lying in his bunk, worrying about Ahsoka and Rex as he stared at the ceiling.
The one factor Echo had never thought of in the whole dynamic was Order 66.