"Hey, boss."

"What's going on?" she asked. "Can you undo these?"

"I'm afraid not," he replied. He reached over and pushed a clip up on the tube to stop it from dripping. "We've just arrived."

"Arrived where? Echo, tell me what's going on."

"You don't give me orders," he told her. He sounded… not right. There was something wrong. He was tense, and there was something about the look in his eyes that had her gut churning anxiously. He wasn't well. Something was wrong. "Tambor wanted you here."

"Tambor?" she frowned at him. "What are you doing? Working for him?"

He didn't reply, but his eye twitched slightly. He looked stressed, like he was fighting something. She wondered if he was winning. It didn't seem like it.

"Echo, I'm sorry," she whispered. That familiar guilt rose in her gut once again. "I should've found you sooner. You deserved… to be saved. You never should've been taken. If he's made you do this, we can get you out of it. We can save you."

"You're the one that needs saving, general."

Looking up at his eyes, she couldn't see him. It was like her friend was there, but he was gone. It almost reminded her of Fox when-

But that wasn't possible, so what the hell was going on?

"Docking," a robotic voice called. So, he had them on autopilot. Where to was the question, she supposed.

Echo moved forward. He pressed a button on the table she was strapped down to and it straightened until she was upright. He flipped on the table and had it follow him off the ship.

They were on a separatist ship, that much was clear. There were droids scattered all over, and they were being led by one toward the bottom of the ship. They made their way into a large, dark room, where she was put in a cell. Looking around, she winced.

The droids left her alone with Echo. He stood there with his hands at his sides, guarding her until a man walked in. She recognized Tambor immediately and took in a sharp, tense breath. "Well, if all I had to do to meet you was get kidnapped by one of my own men, I'd have done it long ago."

"Funny," Tambor said. He walked into the cell and pushed her chin up with a cane he held. "Good job, CT-1409."

"What are my orders?"

Tambor seemed to consider the question for a moment. "We need information from her. Torture her."

Echo tensed, but he nodded silently. He hesitated. "How?"

Tambor raised an eyebrow. "Electrocution, cutting, burning, branding, rats. I don't care. Just do it."

"Rats?"

"I'll show you later," Tambor replied. "Start with cutting. She's a Jedi, so the likelihood of her escaping or being rescued is high. I want you in here constantly. Make sure no one interferes."

"Yes, sir," Echo said stiffly. "And what information do you want from her?"

Tambor considered the question as if it hadn't occurred to him. Soph was pretty sure he was more interested in torturing her than finding any information. Anything to hurt a Jedi, she supposed. Grievous had been much the same. "Locations of medical centers first."

Soph watched Tambor leave with dread pooling in her stomach. "This isn't you. You don't have to do this. Let me help you. Please."

"You're a good person, Soph," he replied quietly. "Too good. You can't save yourself, and neither can I, so talk. Spare yourself the pain. Please."

Soph closed her eyes tightly. She knew Echo was being controlled, but she had no idea how. He didn't have his chip, so what the hell was going on? "Echo, you're one of my best friends. You know me well enough to know I'd die to protect you and your brothers. I'm not talking. Just… know that I know it isn't you doing this. Whatever happens, know that I understand and I forgive you."

"You need to stop forgiving people that have hurt you," he shook his head at her. "They… we don't deserve it."

Soph was somewhat surprised to hear he didn't think Anakin deserved to be forgiven. She'd thought he understood the reason she'd forgiven him, but it seemed like he may have been angry with Anakin, just like Rex. She figured it made sense after he was shown his last life. "Anakin and you both were and are being controlled in one way or another. You deserve kindness no matter what he makes you do to me. And… if I die, don't blame yourself. It's all Tambor. You're a dear friend, and I want you to know that my opinion of you is not at all affected by what's going to happen."

Echo looked absolutely crushed. Outwardly, he looked completely blank, but she saw it in his eyes. It was the same part of him that she saw begging for help, and it killed her that she couldn't.

The door opened again. A droid set down a tray full of tools that Soph was not excited to experience. Echo stared at the tools blankly, as if he wished they'd disappear. She knew what it meant and so did he - there was no more putting it off. She just hoped he remembered her words. She watched him with growing sadness as he picked up a knife and moved back to her side.

Soph braced herself. Things were about to get bad. She just hoped she could hold out until they were found.

Force, she hoped they'd be found.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"What do you mean, they're not there?"

Fives grimaced at Anakin's tone. Who the hell had designated him a comm officer? "We got here and… nothing. It's a diversion, but how would they know to track her comm?"

"Echo's the only one," Droidbait said quietly. "But it's not like he'd help them."

"His datapad is dinging next to her coordinates," Cutup mentioned. "Someone must've gotten that, too."

"But how'd they get in it?" Hevy wondered. "I mean, Echo's datapad is encrypted to hell and back."

"They must've forced him to do it," Droidbait decided. Because there was no way Echo would help them. No way.

"Just find them," Anakin ordered sharply before pressing the button to end the call.

"Seriously, how'd they get all of this?" Fives questioned.

"Echo," Rex answered. His hands shook slightly at his sides. No one mentioned it.

"He wouldn't-,"

"For whatever reason, he has," Rex interrupted. "Focus less on why and more on what you know about him. Why would he send us here?"

They were silent for a moment before Fives' head shot up. "He's telling us that Tambor has them. We have to find him."

"Easier said than done," Rex sighed. "Soph's been looking for him for weeks and she's found nothing."

"Well, we have a great incentive to find him now, so let's get to work," Hevy decided. "The sooner we start, the sooner we'll find them."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Soph used her intuition more than anything else to figure out how long she'd been there for. It seemed like it had been two rotations so far, and it was not going well. For the first few hours, it wasn't so bad. Light cuts across her legs, arms, and stomach. Not too deep, but not surface cuts, either. It wasn't too bad, not until Tambor came to check on them. He'd seen how lightly Echo was cutting her, and he hadn't liked it.

Soph had watched with no small amount of fear as Tambor walked over, took the knife from Echo, and slammed it down into her thigh. The scream she let out made Echo wince hard. She could see and feel how upset he was, and she thought he might've been as upset as she was.

"If I can't hear her screaming from my office, you aren't doing enough," Tambor had told Echo sharply.

At that point, Echo was recreating the experience he'd had just before being saved - she was in standing water as well as on a metal chair. He dropped a live wire into the water and watched as she squirmed and screamed.

She'd screamed a lot more than she normally would've if only to keep Echo from having to hurt her more. He seemed to be relieved by it. Both of them knew how much hurting her was killing him, but neither of them could do anything about it.

"It's okay," she grit out between screams. She was panting for breath as she watched her friend closely. He looked distraught. His carefully blank mask had fallen hours earlier. "It's okay. Are you… okay?"

He stared at her. "Don't ask me that. Worry about yourself. This is only going to get worse if you don't talk."

"I would and will die to protect your brothers," she gasped as the wire touched the water once again. There were tears streaming down her face, but with her arms tied behind her back, she couldn't do anything about that.

"Don't," he requested softly. She could barely process his words over the pain. "Soph, don't. Just tell me."

"I can't," she shook her head. "I can't. My life isn't worth putting thousands of other lives at risk."

Echo removed the wire from the water and walked over. He knelt in front of her chair and sighed. "You can get out of this. Just… just answer me."

She looked at him, overwhelmingly sad. "I hope you get out of this, Echo. You don't deserve this. Your brothers will find you. They'll figure out what's going on, why you're doing this, and it'll be okay. It'll be okay, Echo. It'll… don't worry."

Their eyes met, and she squeezed hers shut. She could see the regret over anything else and it rang through her as well. If she'd just gotten to him sooner, saved him days earlier, maybe, just maybe, things would be different. Maybe he'd be okay.

It was all she could focus on. Was he okay? Thinking about that, watching him, asking him, it helped her. If he was okay, things would be okay. "You okay?" she asked softly.

His brow furrowed for a moment. She could see understanding pass through him, and he straightened. "I'm good, Soph."

"Good," she whispered. "Good."

He sighed and walked over to the little table holding his tools. He hesitated before picking something up. He walked over to stand next to her and held it up. It was a small torch lighter. She tensed. So, he was going to burn her, then.

Soph braced herself for more. He was good, and that was what mattered.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"This is bullshit," Hevy snapped at no one in particular. "How are we supposed to find them like this? It's been four days!"

"How else are we meant to find them?" Fives asked quietly. "These are the only leads we have."

"We can't just search every single place we know Tambor's been," Hevy argued. "He's not stupid. He's got to be somewhere safe."

"Maybe if we find someone that's worked with him," Droidbait suggested from his bunk. They were all lying down. It was night cycle and technically, they were supposed to be asleep. Neither Domino nor Epsilon had been able to sleep very well since she'd been taken.

Ahsoka was sitting cross-legged on the floor with her hands on her legs. She had her eyes closed and sighed heavily. "Anakin's wrong. How's this supposed to help?"

"He said a large group trying to find her would help," Coric reminded her, sighing as well.

"Well, that's really only if we're all together," she told them. "And having everyone so spread out, it doesn't help. This is like finding a needle in a universe of a haystack."

"I really think we should find someone," Droidbait told them. "I mean, if we can find someone that knows him, we could… it's worth a shot."

"You're right," Ahsoka said, her head shooting up. Her eyes were wide with hope. "Dooku!"

Fives sat up abruptly. "Sir, you're a genius. Dooku would help."

"Don't call me sir," Ahsoka made a face. "Soph doesn't want you calling her that and neither do I. It's Ahsoka, okay?"

"Got it," he agreed, moving on quickly. "We have to get to Serenno."

"Let's get Rex and go," Ahsoka jumped to her feet. She hesitated when she looked at the exhausted men in the room. "Actually, stay here. I'll let you know when to meet us at the Twilight."

"It'll be a long trip, but if he can find her, it's worth it," Cutup said. "I just- I hope they can hold out long enough."

Ahsoka made her way out of the room, leaving the group alone once again. Once she was gone, they started putting their armor on. None of them could wait to leave. Epsilon wasn't as close to Soph as Domino - because barring Rex and Cody, no clone was closer to her than Domino - but they were still deeply concerned and ready to do anything to save her. It was true throughout the 501st. All of them would do a lot to find her, not to mention Echo, who had helped with the research on the chips.

By the time they got a message from Ahsoka, they'd all been ready to go for a half an hour. Domino and Epsilon both made their way to the Twilight. Technically, only Domino had been called, but Epsilon silently joined. No one said anything about it.

All in all, it was Domino, Epsilon, Ahsoka, Anakin, and a very pissed off Rex. Their captain had been snapping at anyone around and they all clearly understood. They'd just gotten married and she'd almost immediately gotten kidnapped with one of his men. He wasn't too happy.

Serenno was pretty far from the 501st. Anakin and Ahsoka had been trading out with Obi Wan on helping with the war effort versus looking for Soph. None of the three of them had slept in Force knows how long.

Jinx piloted the Twilight expertly past Separatists as they came out of hyperspace a full rotation later. Landing took too long in Cutup's opinion. They landed directly outside of Dooku's castle. The entire group, including Jinx, made their way inside. They were led by an overwhelmed looking droid to Dooku's office and they all piled inside. Anakin and Ahsoka sat down, Rex and Domino stood in a half circle around them, and Epsilon took up defensive positions around the room with Jinx standing by the door. It was unnecessary, but it made them all feel a little better.

Dooku raised an eyebrow at Anakin. "Skywalker. Is there a reason you're-,"

"Where is Tambor?"

Dooku stared, unimpressed. "Would you like some tea?"

"I would like for you to answer my damn question," he snapped.

"I don't think so."

"You're still working with the Separatists," Anakin accused.

Dooku leveled him with a bored glare. "Leave."

"Sir," Ahsoka said, elbowing Anakin. "I'm sorry. We just- we need to know where he is. It's important."

"And why did Soph-Katarina not come to ask me herself?"

Ahsoka hesitated. "Tambor has her. He's had her for five rotations."

Dooku's eyes darkened. There was a certain deep darkness radiating from him very suddenly. "I see."

"Please help us," Ahsoka continued. "We have to get her back."

"If you want to find Tambor, you'll have to go to Jakku," he told them. "The eastern side. It's where he brings his experiments and anyone he wants to torture. You'll find her there."

"Thank you," she breathed out slowly. "Thank you, sir."

"Find her alive," Dooku ordered. "And find her fast."

"We're leaving immediately," Anakin assured him, getting to his feet.

"Someone will send me a message when she's found," Dooku told them. "That is all I ask. She is, after all, from my line. She's redeeming the Jedi slowly. She cannot die. She will not die."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

She was resting. It wasn't often that they let her rest. Echo worked for twelve hours a day. When he was finally allowed to rest - and he did so in the cell, because Tambor was certain someone would rescue her - Tambor came to take over. Those were the worst times. He didn't hold back.

Tambor had done numerous things to her, including punching, kicking, slapping - basically any physical attack he could do with his own body. Aside from that, he'd waterboarded her. Echo had watched, unnaturally still. At that moment, Tambor stood in front of her with the torch Echo had used on her. He was using it to heat up a long, metal stick with some sort of symbol at the end.

Soph knew what was about to happen. She could see the separatist symbol on the end of it. She just hoped it was placed somewhere she could hide.

Every day, she lost more hope that they'd found. Every day, her tolerance for the pain lowered. Every day, she asked Echo over and over again if he was okay. He always said yes, and it always comforted her just a little.

Tambor walked toward her, twirling the prod in his hand. He came to stand behind her and placed one hand on her shoulder while the other reached down with the prod to hover over her left thigh. "You've held out longer than usual. You're strong. Dedicated. It will get you killed. When your friends find your body, it will be littered with proof that you died at my hand."

"They'll kill you," she managed. Her throat was raw from the screaming and she'd lost her voice for the most part. "Anakin will kill you."

"General Skywalker is more than welcome to try," Tambor replied. With no warning at all, he pressed the prod down into her skin. She screamed at the scalding hot pain. Before long, he removed the prod and stared at her, clearly pleased. She wasn't at all prepared for it when he then turned and pressed it into her ribs on the left side.

He removed it and dumped clearly contaminated water on it to worsen the injury. She grit her teeth at the pain. Pouring cold water on a major burn was not a great move. It worsened the damage, and she knew that the branding would be horrible.

Tambor walked over and set the prod down. He made his way back over and tipped his head to the side. "Are you going to talk?"

"No," she spat.

"Then I have just the solution," he told her. The door opened and Soph saw Ventress walk in. "I think it's about time we get what we want, General Sizre."

"And I know just how I can get it," Ventress smirked at Soph. She stepped closer to get in Soph's space. "You'll regret turning Dooku against me. I'm going to destroy you."

OoOoOoOoOoOo