Rex paced back in forth as his thoughts raced. It could work, but it also couldn't. I could save Echo and Fives, but it also could kill them. The Captain's mind was racing.

"We need someone who can catch him without killing him. Someone who can stay on his level. Someone who can beat him at his own game," Rex spoke quietly as he paced.

"Your talking about someone who is better than an ARC, Rex," Cody spoke up as he flipped through the bio scans that Kix had sent to them.

"Commandos. We need commandos," Rex sighed as he ran a hand through his hair.

"We don't have commandos. Not on base with us. General Kenobi might be able to contact someone though," Cody hummed glancing up at the blonde.

Rex closed his eyes and took a deep breathe. He needed to stay calm. Level headed. He needed to needed to take a breather.

"Let's take care of Echo first. We know taking the chip out won't kill clones. What we don't know is what effect it will take on Echo because of what the sith have done to him. We have no way to test it either," Rex glanced down at the data pad on his desk staring at the scans.

"We just have to have hope," Cody spoke up solemnly as he set down the data pad.

"I think we need a little more than hope, Codes. Maybe some luck too. Kix should be ready in a few minutes. Gods, I hope this works," Rex smiled weakly as glanced at the time.

/—/—/

Reaper's heart was going a million miles a second. This was not good. Not good at all. They were going to kill him. They were going to end him. Rogue. Hurry. Please. The yellow eyed male turned his head to his hand. The cybernetic piece whirred and clicked as he opened and closed his hand. The former ARC growled lowly. The were going to kill him and get back their version of him. Well he could just make it harder for them.

Reaper stood up and ran his hand along the side of the wall making sure to cause sparks. He'll claw the damn thing out if he has to. If he didn't get to live then neither did Echo.

/—/—/

Rogue cursed as he clawed at his head slightly. His head was pounding as something clawed at him from the inside. He could hear a voice screaming at him and tearing him apart. Sith corruption was a hard thing to master. You mess it up just a little and the host could fight back. Rogue snarled as he slammed his head back against the wall he was leaned against.

The voice in his head was gone and the pain was just a numbing throb. He was free for now. He could relax again.

Yellow eyes flashed golden briefly before Rogue started laughing darkly. Fighting against that corruption was hard. Very few ever returned back to the light. The former ARC grinned as he blinked up at the mirror of the small bathroom; blood trickling down his head from where the corrupted ARC had clawed at his head.

"You'll have to try harder than that, little ARC. I'm much harder to get rid of than you think. Now if you'll excuse me. I need to save a partner," Rogue grinned at his reflection before grabbing his twin pistols.

Rogue didn't even bother to patch himself up. If he died so did the killer headache he had. No more Rogue, no more Fives. It was simple really.

/—/—/

When the guard walked into Reaper's cell to check on him he hadn't been expecting what they saw.

"Shit! Fuck! Someone grab a medic! Medic," the guard yelled as he pulled his gun to stun Reaper.

The corrupted clone had nearly clawed his brain out with his metal hand. He had nearly killed himself and Echo. They brought him to medical, and strapped him on a table. It was the safest thing to do.

Kix stared at the former ARC swallowing heavily. Reaper had been so desperate to live that he was willing to kill himself to make sure that he wasn't replaced by Echo. They were their own people too. They just so happened to be corrupted versions of the 501st's ARCs. Ahsoka placed a hand on Kix's arm trying to support the medic. Rex shifted nervously next to Jesse and Cody.

Jesse was there to support Kix. Rex and Cody were there in case something went wrong, but also because they would have to do this to Fives later on. Ahsoka was there to make sure that Skywalker didn't walk in on this, and to make sure Reaper stayed asleep during this operation.

"Here we go," Kix muttered as he set to work.

Sure Kix had done the process to get the chip out of other brothers before, but now there was a life on the line. Now taking the chip could kill the one he was operating on. Silence was all that was heard in the room as Kix worked. The procedure in itself was quick and easy, but that didn't mean it wasn't stressful.

The room was cold, and full of uneasy tension. Rex tensed and fixed his eyes on the heart monitor when the chip was slowly pulled out. Kix eyed the monitor as well as placed a bacta patch over where the chip once was being very mindful of the cybernetic pieces on the outside of the ARC's head. The whole room shifted slightly when nothing happened. Echo was still alive, but nothing seemed to have changed.

The group of clones tore their gaze away from the enhanced ARC to look at Ahsoka when a small gasp escaped her. As if on cue the ARC snapped up nearly breaking his wrist in the process due to him being strapped to the table by the wrists and ankles. The clones backed up lightly and stared at what looked like Echo. The ARC gasped for air and shook his head before glancing down at his restraints and then looking up fear in his amber eyes.

The ARC looked disorientated, but otherwise he looked like Echo. The bandages around his head didn't help though.

"Rex? What? Where am I? The Citadel… the ship. Did we make it on to the ship? Is everyone alright? Where's Fives? Tell me Fives is okay. Why am I chained down? Why do I feel like I took a blaster bolt to the head? What's going on? Why are you looking at me like that," Echo fired off a million questions startling the group completely as the young ARC tried to pry himself out of his restraints.

"Echo. Echo slow down," Cody was the first to speak drawing the kid's amber gaze to him.

"Boss, what's going on," Echo asked in finality his gaze going hard as Cody twitched at the old nickname.

"Yeah. Yeah that's Echo," Jesse breathed out a smile breaking on to his face.

"What do you mean 'yeah that's Echo'? I'm gonna climb out of this bed and smack all of you if you don't tell me what the kriff if going on," the cybernetic male snapped finally wincing as his loud tone caused his head to ache.

"The Citadel mission was along time ago, Echo. Welcome back. We just got you back," Rex was the one to finally break the news to the young ARC watching as the light in Echo's eyes died and the playfulness disappeared.

"Where is he? Rex, where is he," Echo whispered dread in his voice.

"We don't know," the blonde replied his voice quiet knowing exactly what Echo was afraid of.

Rex didn't blame him. Waking up a good number of months into the future isn't fun. Losing your brother-by-choice isn't fun either. Being chained to a table felt wrong. Echo was dealing with all of it at once. That and then they had to catch the ARC up with everything else besides what is going on now.

Echo was silent as he dropped his gaze. The group watched as the gears in the ARC's head started turning before he glanced up murder in his eyes. Rex fought the urge smile fondly at the younger ARC recognizing the anger. The anger he had seen when they lost 99. The anger that meant someone was going to regret pissing him off.

"Explain everything," Echo growled lowly, and Rex smirked remembering why he and Fives had been such a deadly team when they weren't corrupted toys of the sith.

"Gladly."

/—/—/

"I know it's a lot, but—"

"Rex, just… just give me a minute," Echo sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose as he processed everything he had been told.

Kix was still fiddling with the ARC's bandages as the group gave Echo a briefing on their situation. They had unchained the ARC and patched him up completely. Echo batted the medic away briefly when he started hover too much. Kix mumbled a sorry before he went over to Jesse who wrapped his arms around the medic.

"Delta Squad. We worked with them once. If you can get Delta Squad here I can make a plan that'll catch… Fives. I can't do much with just civilian troops and a bunch of shinies, but a squad of commandos will do the trick," Echo lifted his head as he rolled his shoulders.

"Delta Squad is only a system away. That'll work," Cody nodded in agreement glancing at Rex who seemed to relax at every word that Echo spoke.

With every word Rex was gaining a little hope. With every word they were another step closer to saving Fives, and then the galaxy.

"I'll contact them," Cody nodded as Rex grinned lightly.

"It's good to have you back Echo," Rex smiled dipping his head in respect.

"It's good to be back," the young male grinned his amber eyes warmer than the sickly yellow they used to be.

/—/—/

Somewhere in an abandoned building Rogue was leaned up against a wall. Tears were trailing down the corrupted clone's cheeks as burning yellow eyes flickered in raging grief. Reaper was gone, but Rogue was still here. Rogue would avenge his brother. They would pay for this.

Clones or not they all would die today. No one touches his brother and gets away with it. No one.

"Your friends are going to die for this, little ARC. Starting with your boyfriend," Rogue laughed hysterically tears still spilling over his cheeks.

Even the insane can be broken.

/—/—/

So I've been sitting on this for a few hours, and I can't seem to add anything else. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. The next one will be full of action!

I wanted to give Reaper and Rogue a bit more personality. I'm glad with how it turned out. If you have questions about them go ahead and ask away.

Tell me what you think!

Love you guys!

Glogirl out!