Echo stood in the corner of the room, shaking as he listened to Soph scream, begging Ventress to stop. He watched her thrash around in her seat and took in quick breaths.

Soph knew there was nothing he could do. She was watching him as she tried to resist. Staring at him, she used him as a physical manifestation of her hope of being saved.

If Echo was okay, she'd be okay, too.

But Ventress was taught by the best. She knew as much from experience. She was throwing memories at Ventress, things that weren't revealing at all. They barely stopped her. She sat there struggling to breathe as her mind was torn at, sharp movements pressing, pulling, and tearing at her memories. It was an excruciating pain that she hadn't been prepared for. All she could do was sit and fight, hoping it would be enough. She didn't think it was.

After a while, Ventress straightened and made a noise of frustration. "She's strong. You haven't broken her will yet. Do that and I can get you what you need."

"She will break," Tambor promised. "I will make sure of it. I will call you when it's time."

Ventress made her way out of the room, leaving Soph alone with Echo and Tambor. Tambor glared down at her in irritation. He reached out and grabbed her by the throat, closing his hands around it. She gasped for air but none came. He pressed so hard it hurt and she wondered what could be damaged by the pressure.

"Sir, she's no use unconscious," Echo said hesitantly. "She can't talk."

Tambor shook her a little bit. Her vision started to darken, and she felt herself fading. Just before she could pass out, he released her and she took ragged, gasping breaths of air. "I know what I'm doing, clone. Hand me the file."

Echo handed it over silently. Soph looked up and met his eyes, ignoring Tambor as he grabbed her arm roughly - rough enough to bruise her, but her entire body was bruised, so she didn't feel like it mattered - and took the file to it, scraping off layers of skin. She let out an involuntary whimper of pain, a noise she'd resisted from making thus far. "Are you okay?"

"I'm good," he replied coolly, his tone even.

"Good, good," she whispered. "Good."

Tambor stopped and looked from Echo and back to her. "Even after everything he's done, you are still concerned for him?"

"You're controlling him somehow," she muttered. "It's not his fault."

"Hm," he hummed, walking over to Echo. Without warning, he slung back and punched Echo in the stomach. Soph jerked.

"Don't hurt him! I'm the one with the information you want, not him."

"I must break your spirit," he explained. He reached back to the table, grabbed a knife, and dug it into Echo's side. Soph's eyes widened.

"Echo!"

"Tell me where they're at!"

She was startled to realize she was considering it. She'd gotten Echo tortured once before by letting him be kidnapped - because though it wasn't truly her fault, she felt like it was - and she wasn't sure she could handle him going through it again. She couldn't imagine how he felt.

But she couldn't. She couldn't because if she gave him the information he wanted, it would get thousands of men killed. Two lives were not worth that, but…

She had a tough decision to make, and she needed to make it fast.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"We're close," Anakin whispered. He sat with his eyes closed. Ahsoka was next to him, also meditating. "She's here."

"Can you tell anything else?" Rex questioned anxiously.

"She's…" Ahsoka winced. "Master, can you…?"

"It's not good," Anakin answered Rex quietly. "It's bad. That's all I know. There's so much pain and fear. Not for herself, but for… Echo would be my guess."

Fives' jaw tightened in anxiety. If Echo was tortured again… Fives wasn't sure his brother could handle it. At least, he deserved to not be able to handle it. Despite that, his ARC training taught him to grab trauma and shove it down.

"We're here," Jinx told them. There was a solemn mood aboard the Twilight. Whatever they were going to find, it was going to be bad, and they tried to prepare themselves for it.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Echo was okay. He'd said he was okay, so he was. Soph repeated it to herself over and over. She had to believe he was okay, but she knew he'd lie to her to keep her from worrying.

She didn't have the luxury to consider it too much, anyway. Dread had pooled in her stomach when Tambor had picked up her lightsaber and walked over to her. It had been kept just out of her reach. Most of the time, her arms were tied behind her back, anyway. That was the case as Tambor used the hilt of her lightsaber to tip her chin up to make her look at him.

"You have a scar in the shape of a lightsaber wound through your heart," he said. "I plan to give you the experience once more, if a little different."

She was silent. She glared up at him with the little energy she had left. Without warning - because he never seemed to give her any, anyway - he turned the lightsaber on and let it touch her right shoulder. He didn't push it too far against her, but it left her screaming, anyway. When he pulled back and turned it off, he reached up with the same bloodied knife he'd been using for the last week and cut open the cauterized wound. She grit her teeth at the pain but managed to refrain from making a noise.

He seemed to consider her for a moment before he walked over to Echo. He switched the lightsaber on and held it next to his right shoulder.

"No," Soph whispered. "No!"

"Tell me what I want to know," he demanded.

"No," she repeated as she had every time he asked. He shook his head at her and pressed the lightsaber into Echo's shoulder, too. Echo screamed just as she had. The sound horrified her. She watched as he knelt down and cut the wound open on him, too. He spun and made his way back over to Soph. They both tensed when an alarm began blaring. Red lights flashed through the room. He grabbed her by the throat again and nearly pulled her out of the chair. It was clear that that was how he responded to anger or frustration.

"Tell me what I want to know or I'll kill him right now," he threatened. Despite his threat, he didn't let up on her. He kept squeezing until a voice sounded from behind them.

"Let go of her or I will kill you right now."

Soph stared in complete shock over Tambor's shoulder at the group gathered before them. She counted Anakin, Ahsoka, Rex, Domino, and Epsilon. It was certainly a threatening group of very, very pissed off people. Anakin and Ahsoka already had their lightsabers ready, and there were about twelve guns pointed at Tambor.

Tambor's grip on Soph tightened. He shook her aggressively, and she heard safeties click off of the guns in the room. Tambor threw her back down into the chair and she let out a shout of pain at the jolt. Someone shot at the wall - she was pretty sure it was Rex. He leveled Tambor with a death glare. "Step away from her now."

"Fives," Soph grit out as Tambor was grabbed roughly by Hevy. She felt Coric come to his knees at her side. "Coric, get- get Echo, he- please, get Echo first, he needs-,"

"Nax has medical training," Coric told her gently. He gave her a shot immediately and she felt everything get a little fuzzy, but much of the pain lessened at least some. "Lay back."

She did as he said only after she caught sight of Nax with Echo. She looked up and found Fives knelt next to her. He grabbed her hand within his and squeezed it gently. "What do you need, boss?"

"The transmitter," she answered. Fives' head tilted slightly in confusion. "Please."

Fives dug in his pack for a moment before he pulled one out and handed it over. She took it from him and pressed the button, eyeing Echo. He twitched aggressively, and his eyes shot to hers immediately.

"Soph," he whispered.

"It's okay," she replied softly. "It's okay. Are you…?"

"I'm good," he promised. "I'm good, I promise."

"You're okay," she said, mostly to herself.

Fives moved suddenly, startling her. She felt tears roll down her cheeks as soon as her eyes set on Rex. He came to kneel next to her in Fives' spot. He was looking her over closely, taking stock of every injury he could see. By the time his eyes met hers again, they were filled with absolute horror, guilt, and sadness. He reached out and wiped a tear from her face gently. "I'm here. I've got you."

"We have to go," Coric said suddenly. "Now."

Rex's head shot up. "What's wrong?"

"Internal bleeding," he answered, waving for Kosmos and Attie to move her onto a stretcher. "That's the swelling you can see. There's more than is even a little bit safe."

"I… he stabbed me a… a couple times," Soph winced at the same time as Ahsoka. "Once between my lower ribs and once on my thigh."

"I'd wager it's the ribs, in that case," Coric muttered to himself. "Get her on the Twilight now!"

From there, it was a flurry of movement. Soph was barely able to ask if they'd gotten Tambor because by the time they got to the ship, the painkillers Coric had given her were heavily in effect. She felt herself fade into unconsciousness as Rex rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb.

They were saved and she could rest.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"I don't know," Cutup said in irritation. "But it's what she said."

"Rex-,"

"She won't let him in," Fives told him. "She won't let anyone in. She got so upset that Kix banned everyone from her room for a rotation. Everyone but you, so go."

"I can't," Echo glared at them. "Tell someone else to go."

"This isn't the route to go," Del warned him. "Hiding won't fix anything. She couldn't have done anything to save you, Echo."

His lips thinned. "I'm not mad at her because she didn't save me. Leave it alone."

"So you are mad at her?" Droidbait questioned.

"No," Echo scoffed. "Force, leave me the hell alone."

"No!" Fives snapped at him, startling him. "You fucking idiot, she's terrified for you! She keeps asking if you're okay. We tell her yes, but she doesn't believe us. She needs to physically see you. I don't give a shit about whatever guilt complex you've got right now, Echo. Get your shit together and go fucking see her."

Echo was silent. Nothing Fives had said was a shock to him. He knew how terrified she had to be. He knew what would help her, and he knew Fives would call out his guilt. So while none of it was a shock, the words did hit him hard.

He was being selfish. That's what it really came down to. His own feelings on the situation impacted his actions, which put her in more distress than she needed to be in. He was selfish and he was wrong, and he knew it.

"Okay," he said finally. "She's still in the med bay?"

"Yeah," Jesse said. He'd come to check on Echo as many of his brothers had, and he'd stuck around talking to Hardcase and Zeer. "Kix said her injuries were… they were a lot more severe than yours. Apparently, she almost died three times before they got her into the bacta tank."

"Force," Echo muttered, rubbing his forehead tiredly. "I'll go now. Kix won't chew me out, will he?"

"If it wouldn't upset the general, he would," Jesse disagreed. "You're causing her genuine distress right now. I'm having a hard time not yelling at you."

"Yeah," Echo sighed. He got to his feet and, without another word to them, made his way toward the med bay. The walk was long and anxiety filled. When he got there, he buzzed Kix to let him in - Soph was the only one not in a bacta tank in there at the moment, so Kix had literally locked everyone out to let her heal.

Kix let him in, but before he could find her, he stepped in front of him and leveled him with a glare. "The first sign she's upset and you're out, understand? You've already upset her enough."

"I know," he answered. Finally, Kix stepped back and let him pass. He breathed out slowly and made his way to Soph.

She… did not look good. She had bandages practically everywhere and had an IV in with some sort of medicine dripping through it. There were dark bruises littering her body as well. Staring at her, he was silent. Coming had been a bad idea in his opinion. There was a flash of fear in her eyes that had dread sinking to the bottom of his stomach, but the fear quickly gave way to absolute relief.

"Echo, thank the Force," she breathed.

"Hey," he said, walking forward hesitantly. "They said you wanted to see me."

She nodded, but fell quiet. It was clear she was thinking about it, and he immediately regretted coming. She was obviously not okay around him, just as he'd thought, so he stopped moving and stood completely still. He shouldn't be there. He shouldn't have come. Staring at her, he wondered what the hell he'd been thinking, letting them talk him into it. He'd tortured her. Of course she was scared.

"I haven't told anyone anything," she said quietly. "If that's what you're worried about. They asked what happened, why you weren't hurt as badly, but… the last thing I want is for them to blame you."

"You can't say it wasn't me," he said softly. She frowned at him.

"It wasn't."

"How can you think that?" he asked somewhat sharply.

Soph sighed and waved at the chair next to her bed. "Sit. Please." He did what she said rather stiffly. She was looking him over very closely, her eyes sticking on every visible injury there was. She was breathing slowly, clearly trying to control herself. He could see some panic set in and, before he could stop himself, he leaned forward and touched her hand.

"Soph, I'm good."

His words settled in slowly, and the panic dissipated as quickly as it had begun. She relaxed a little and sighed again. "Good. I'm… that's all I wanted, you know. I just wanted to see you make it out of there safely."

He was quiet. She hadn't answered his question and it was making him nervous. She studied his face and nodded as if she saw what she needed to see.

"I can say that it wasn't you because it wasn't," she said finally. "I knew early on that you were being controlled. I don't know how, but you were chipped, Echo. He must've put one in you again when he had you the first time. He probably thought it was uniquely painful for both of us to make you… there was a reason that I made Fives use the transmitter immediately. I knew what was going on and I knew that we had to fix it immediately before they noticed anything."

"Why are you still protecting me?"

The question seemed to catch her off guard. Her eyes softened sadly. "Because, Echo, I told you. You're one of my best friends. You would never hurt me yourself."

"But I did."

"Tambor was controlling you," she said sharply. "You did everything you could and I know it. Fives said you routed my comms and your datapad to where Tambor took you from the first time. You showed me compassion even when you shouldn't have been able to. I asked Kix and he said the chip placed inside you was malfunctioning, which allowed you to lightly disobey orders by talking to me, comforting me, and being as gentle as possible."

Her screams haunted him. Her eyes haunted him. He'd avoided her eyes to the best of his ability, but he'd always ended up staring at them, anyway. They'd been proof she was alive, that maybe she could escape. Everything he'd done while under Tambor's influence made him sick. The worst part was that she'd forgiven him over and over, not for her sake but for his. "Why do you care so much?"

She squeezed his hand tightly. "I meant everything I said. I just… I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?"

"I couldn't tell him," she whispered. "I couldn't give him what he wanted. Your life is worth far more to me than my own, but… but I couldn't… I just couldn't, Echo. I'm so sorry."

"I didn't want you to tell him," he frowned down at their hands. She held his tightly as if it was a lifeline. He thought maybe it was. "They're brothers. I'd rather die than be the reason they die."

"Me too," she agreed. "But it's my fault he hurt you."

He stared at her. "How?"

"If I hadn't asked if you were okay, if your answer didn't help, he wouldn't have known the extent to which I care for you. He thought you were a clone working under an uncaring general, when you're really one of my closest friends. When I asked that, he understood. He used you to make me talk. That is my fault."

"I could have not answered you," he reminded her. He couldn't believe she blamed herself. It was all his fault.

"How'd he activate it?" she wondered. "We were in the middle of a battle, I can't imagine he managed to send you a long range message through your comms."

Echo closed his eyes. He didn't want to answer her. He considered lying, but she deserved the full truth. He was finally able to tell her everything and he knew he had to. Taking a deep breath, he answered her. "It was active the entire time, Soph."

Her breath hitched at his words and he looked up at her tear filled eyes. She was nauseous at his words, and she felt a couple tears fall. "I can't… I can't tell you how sorry I am. I should've known. I thought you were just- that you were recovering from him and that was why you were… off."

"Anytime I tried to tell you or anyone else, it felt like I was being suffocated," he admitted. "There was no way you could've known. I'm an ARC, Soph. We're trained for torture and secret keeping. Tambor didn't consider that I had the same information you have. The only reason we haven't lost more information than we have is because he underestimated my place in this war."

"The entire time," she repeated as if she hadn't heard his words. She paused, however, clearly processing what he'd said. "Wait, what did we lose?"

"Some access codes on the Resolute," he replied. "He has the numbers on how many brothers have been freed as of a month ago."

"Nothing too bad," she said, relieved. "He'd have to get aboard the Resolute to… use them…" her eyes widened. "Echo, he's here."

Echo tensed. He was. Had that been his plan the entire time? He'd been so sure that she'd be rescued, had kept Echo in the room, and gave up somewhat easily when he'd been caught. It was all too easy. Far too easy.

"I'll go find Rex," he said, but she grabbed his hand again.

"Stay. Send a message to Rex to get to Tambor immediately. He needs to be moved off the Resolute right away."

Echo hesitated. "I can go tell him myself."

"There's more to talk about," she disagreed. "Send him a message. That's not an order, it's a request. There's more we need to talk about if we're going to… heal."

"Okay," he agreed with a small sigh. He pulled out his datapad and sent the message. Soph's comms beeped immediately. She made a face and picked it up.

"You're lucky Kix hasn't taken my comms," she told him.

"What's wrong with Tambor?" he asked her tensely.

"He got caught on purpose. There's- he's here on purpose. He has access codes for the Resolute. Someone needs to get to him now."

"I'm on my way," Rex promised. "Stay there. Is Echo still there?"

"He's right here," she confirmed.

"Echo," he addressed the ARC. "Do you have your pistol?"

"Of course," Echo said, confused.

"Guard her. If he comes anywhere near her, shoot him," he ordered sharply. "Understand?"

"Yes, sir," he replied. It was the least he could do after everything. "I'll guard her with my life."

"Good man," Rex told him. "I'll come see you when I'm done if that's alright, Kat."

"Sure," she agreed. "That… that'd be nice."

"Okay," Rex said softly, sounding relieved. "Try not to stress. I'm sure he's in his cell."

"Sure."

There was a quiet sigh before the call ended.

"He's not in his cell," Soph told Echo. He winced.

"I know."

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