"General!"

Everyone's heads shot up at Dom's exclamation. Fives got to her first, grinning and, without warning, wrapping her up in a surprisingly gentle hug - he was, after all, very aware that she was injured. She laughed and patted him on the back. "Good to see you, too."

"Hey, Soph," Droidbait smiled happily. Hevy and Cutup were at his sides and they were looking at Soph and Echo as Fives backed up. "You two okay, then? No fighting?"

"Fighting?" Soph blinked. "No. Why?"

"He was avoiding you," Fives snorted. "Like an idiot."

Soph's eyes widened and she glanced at Echo. "You were avoiding me?"

He sighed. "Soph, I thought you'd blame me for what happened."

"Echo!" she stared in disbelief. "I told you."

"I know," he shrugged. "Can you really blame me? You still blame yourself for the first time Tambor had me."

"Fair point," she allowed. She looked out over Domino and Epsilon. Concerned eyes looked back at her, and she gave a smile that came out a bit more like a grimace. She'd missed her men, but she had a feeling there would be many eyes on her in the coming days. "How have you guys been? I've been worried."

"Better now that you're back," Attie said with a soft smile. "You look almost human, too."

She snorted. He'd truly never shied away from making fun of her - in that life and the previous one. "Thanks, Attie."

"Anytime, boss."

There was a gasp to her right and she turned. Her eyes fell on Nax, who was staring at her hand. She looked down and frowned, realizing what he was looking at. "It's… scarred."

"I'll fix it," Nax promised. He stepped closer and grabbed her hand to look at it closely. "I can fix this. Scar tissue can be difficult to tattoo over, and we need to wait for the swelling to go down. I'd suggest putting a bacta patch on at night."

Soph screwed up her nose. "That's so annoying. Could he not have left one thing alone?"

There was a collective wince from everyone except her and Echo, who glanced at her. "You know, they may not enjoy your comments and jokes like I do."

"Probably not," she sighed. "Sorry, boys."

"You're not going to work anytime soon, right?" Fives asked in concern. She shook her head.

"I was going to, but my Master is making me rest. He used his 'don't fuck with me right now, this is for your own good' voice. I think I've heard that one a few too many times."

Cutup snorted. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

"What've you boys been doing?" she wondered. "Taking care of yourselves while we were gone, I hope."

Everyone hesitated, even Epsilon.

"Uh," Hevy coughed. "Yeah, of course we were."

Droidbait elbowed him. "You're an atrocious liar. Why do you even try?"

"No one else was saying anything," he defended.

"I can't believe you jumped in front of Echo and got shot," Fives said after a quiet moment. "On one hand, I'm very grateful. On the other hand, you're an idiot."

Soph snorted. "Force, it's a good thing you feel comfortable enough to straight up insult me. But really, Fives, what was I supposed to do? Echo's a better person than I could ever hope to be. He shouldn't die for something I did - or technically, didn't - do. He's your brother. Shouldn't you just be glad?"

"I would be if I didn't consider you part of Domino, too."

Soph's mouth opened slightly in surprise. "You what?"

Fives shrugged. "Family, Soph. We're lucky clones - we're the only ones that have a general that they consider a sister."

Soph's eyes widened. She felt tears well up and willed them to stop. "Fives."

He grinned at her. "You good, general?"

"You're going to make her cry, asshole," Echo shook his head. Truthfully, he felt the same about her being part of Domino and was glad to know she knew. Perhaps she'd finally, truly understand what she meant to them.

"I don't think you understand," Fives continued. "What you mean to clones. Freeing us is one incredible thing, but being fully willing to die for one of us is another. That fact has spread like wildfire, and not just through the 501st. Some completely unknown random clone may have announced it to the 212th, 91st, 41st, and anyone else that was listening on that long-range frequency."

"Fives!" Soph exclaimed. "Why?"

He grinned. "I thought they deserved to know how hard you're fighting for us. There were some that still were unsure of the Jedi's involvement in the creation of the chips. I thought it was important that they know how dedicated you are."

She tipped her head back. "Oh, you are annoying."

Fives snorted, but he said nothing.

Her small smile fell when she realized Coric was missing. Her voice softened. "How's Kix?"

Del grimaced. "It isn't great. He was standing against the wall to the rest of the ship. He had a concussion that was pretty bad, and he had some pretty bad cuts and burns. It could be worse, but his hands had some significant damage. It can be healed, but it's going to take time. Coric's been working solely on Kix. They're good friends, so he's taking it pretty roughly."

She sighed. "And… everyone else that was there, are they…? How many did we… lose?"

No one answered her for a moment until finally, Droidbait spoke up. "Thirteen men died."

Soph closed her eyes tightly. Thirteen men… gone. Just like that, with no effort at all, Tambor had ended thirteen good mens' lives just to get into the med bay. Echo had nearly died. Tambor was going after everything she knew and loved, and it ignited a fire inside of her, a darkness that slipped in through the cracks and sunk lightly into her heart.

No one was going to kill her men and get away with it. Not while she was living and breathing.

When she opened her eyes, she saw an exhausted grief settle over her men. She breathed out slowly. "I understand. Thank you. I think I'm going to… go check on Kix. He deserves an apology."

"But it wasn't your fault," Cutup tried. Echo put up a hand.

"Not now," he said softly. He could see that something small and dangerous had snapped within Soph. He tried not to worry, but he had a bad, bad feeling about it.

Whatever had broken in her would certainly come to haunt them later. He just had to be ready to help her fight it.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"Uh."

Echo glanced at Soph. "Huh?"

"I've been… summoned," she grimaced and looked up from her datapad. "Immediately. We have to get to Coruscant."

"We?"

"You were summoned, too," she sighed. "Great."

"I was- what? By who?"

"The Council."

"Oh, Force."

She shrugged. "It probably won't be that bad. There's no way they're going to punish us."

"What're you being punished for?" Anakin asked, startling Soph.

"Jesus, Ani," she cursed. Echo snorted and she made a fact at him. "We're not being punished… I think. Hopefully. The Council summoned us."

He blinked. "I didn't get a message."

"Not you and I, Echo and I."

"Oh," Anakin frowned. "Why do you think?"

"No idea. Assumedly it's something about Tambor. At least… probably. It probably isn't anything else."

"What else could it be?" Echo wondered. Soph sighed.

"I've done a plethora of things the Council would disapprove of - half of which you've been involved in," she reasoned.

Echo's eyes narrowed. "They can't yell at me- I'm not even a Jedi."

"Ah, but I am, and therefore they yell at you as well."

"Have you forgotten that they likely want to check on you and make sure you're not a liability?" Anakin wondered.

"Yep," she said, shifting. They were in a mostly empty shooting range. Echo had been training on a big gun - because to Soph a gun was a gun and some were just bigger than others - and she'd sat on the floor nearby to meditate - or rather, yell out exceedingly unhelpful advice that had Echo snorting. She tucked her datapad away and reached up. Echo grabbed her hand to help her up, earning a smile. "Thanks. Ready to go?"

"Yep. I'll send the rest of Domino a message when we're on the Twilight."

"Already done," she told him. He tipped his head to the side, but she couldn't read his face. It was a somewhat annoying trait that Domino got from ARC training. Echo used it quite liberally in the last life and the current one. Her eyes slipped back to Anakin. "Tell Ahsoka I'll be back soon to help with the theory you're making her read."

"She was up hours after sleep cycle began," he defended. They'd argued about it earlier that day and he'd won. "Playing Sabacc with your friends in his barracks. It took me two hours to find her."

"I wasn't exactly going to kick the Commander out," Echo defended. "She's higher ranking. I can't just… do that."

"She's also fourteen," Soph added. "So she's going to stay up late and hang out with her friends. Besides, it's your own fault for not checking in their barracks right away. She spends most of her free time there unless no one's around. Now, if you'll excuse us, it's time to go get yelled at."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"How are you both doing?"

Soph tried for a smile. "Better. Thank you for asking."

"Echo?" Master Plo Koon asked. Echo offered a calm smile. While Soph was resisting the urge to tap her foot anxiously, Echo never lost his composure, even standing in a room full of Jedi generals.

"I'm doing well, sir, thank you," he replied. "Thankfully, my injuries weren't too severe."

"Master…" Soph grimaced. "If you don't mind me asking, why are we here?"

"A couple of reasons," he said. "One of which is that we want to make sure that you will not be a liability in fighting this war."

"Oh," she breathed out in relief. "Well, we're both seeing trauma counselors. We're also on temporary leave."

"You misunderstand," Master Secura told her. "Our concern is for the pair of you working together moving forward. Is there any animosity between the two of you?"

"Not at all," Soph answered honestly. It was safe to say there wasn't and wouldn't be any animosity between them. It seemed to her that the both of them felt uniquely connected after the experience.

Windu looked at Echo. "And you?"

Echo smiled tightly. The question suggested that they knew the details of what happened, and it made him uncomfortable. These Jedi were Soph's friends, and he'd hurt her horribly. No one looked at him with clear anger or disgust, but he felt distinctly judged. "Sir, this has done nothing but… increase my loyalty to her."

"Good, this is," Yoda nodded. "Grow to be incredible, together you will."

Soph smiled softly. She thought the same.

"Be wary of attachment, you must," he added. She tried not to sigh. That train had left the station long ago. She and Rex had been together nearly the entire war. She wasn't sure what her life would be without him.

"I will, Master," she lied.

"Onto the last matter," Master Unduli decided. "The chip. It was said yours was reactivated, Echo. Do you know how?"

"It wasn't," he disagreed. "Mine was taken out entirely when we were studying the chips. When he took me the first time, he placed a new one in me. We believe its effects were lessened because I was able to… lessen the severity of things."

"It's good to know they're able to put replacement chips in," Master Windu commented.

"And It's good that they're less effective," Master Fisto added.

Echo hesitated. "Not enough. If Soph- General Sizre didn't know me so well, she probably wouldn't have worked it out."

"He has a point," she sighed. She was definitely going to get a talking to about attachment later. Her guess was that it would be from Yoda considering his earlier words. "I only guessed. I know him well enough to know he'd… die before hurting me. It was the only thing that made sense to me."

"Mm," Master Windu hummed disapprovingly.

"And where are we at in terms of delivering transmitters?" Master Secura wondered.

"Wolffe has them being mass produced," she smiled. "I think it may be time to publicly share the news of the chips."

"Get with Senator Amidala and arrange something," Obi Wan suggested. He was on the holo and had been rather quiet, mostly because he'd already known everything that was said, but also because he was working as he sat in, muting himself except for when he spoke.

Soph nodded. "I'll do that before we head back to the Resolute."

"We can send transmitters across the inner rim, but trade routes in the outer rim are practically non-existent for us right now," Master Vos pointed out. "They'd have to be personally delivered."

"Echo and I can do that while we're on leave," Soph offered before glancing at Echo. He gave a small, quiet nod - he was good with it.

"Deliver them, you will," Master Yoda agreed. "A step back from the war, you both need, I think."

She had to admit he was right. There was no way to heal the wounds they had while also fighting a war. "Thank you, Master."

"You're free to go," Master Windu told them. He raised an eyebrow at Soph. She grimaced. He was definitely going to lecture her later, not Master Yoda. "Safe travels, Master Sizre, and may the Force be with you both."

"And you, Master."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"Soph!" Padme exclaimed with a bright smile. "It's so nice to see you. I didn't know you were on Coruscant."

Soph hugged her and smiled back happily. She hadn't seen her friend since the blue shadow virus on Naboo and she'd missed her. "A lot's been happening lately."

Padme's smile fell a little. "Anakin told me what happened."

Soph grimaced. "Anakin could keep his mouth shut for once in his life."

"He only keeps secrets when it's for his benefit or mine," Padme sighed. "I'm sorry."

She waved her friend off and nodded at Echo. "You remember my man Echo?"

"Of course," Padme smiled at him. "It's nice to see you as well. How have you been? How are your brothers? I'm surprised they're not here."

"I'm well, Senator, thank you," Echo replied. "My brothers are good. They'd be here, but they're needed elsewhere. Soph and I were summoned by the Jedi Council, which is why we were here.

Padme's eyes widened a little. "Both of you?"

"Yep. Not sure why they needed Echo, since I could've answered their questions, but I'm glad for the excuse to bring him along," she laughed.

"Well, what can I do for you both?"

"We want to spread the news about the chips," Soph explained. She and Echo followed Padme into her living room and sat on a couch across from her. "And we need help doing it. We've got transmitters ready to be shipped out to the inner rim, and Echo and I are delivering them to the outer rim."

"I can certainly put together an address with the senate to spread the information. Do you want to mention Palpatine publicly?"

"Yes," she said firmly. "He needs to be known and hated for the lives he's taken."

"I thought hatred wasn't the Jedi way," Echo teased. Soph rolled her eyes.

"Look, if you expect me to be the perfect example of a Jedi, you're going to be disappointed," she laughed. "So leave me alone."

"A Jedi Master looking to not be an example of the perfect Jedi," Echo snorted. "I'm sure they'd love that."

Soph's lips twitched in amusement. "I can get them on the holo."

"I think I'm a bit tired of being judged by your most intimidating friends today, boss."

"Yeah, fair enough."

Padme looked between them with a small smile. Her eyes slipped to Soph. "How's Rex been? Anakin said you got married."

Soph suppressed a sigh. "Rex is okay."

"And are you guys okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it's just… we haven't really talked since the day we got married with so much going on. He's frustrated with me, and I'm frustrated with him for being frustrated with me."

Padme shook her head. "I get that. Anakin can be a bit… contrarian. Why do you think he's frustrated?"

"Because I got myself shot."

"What?"

"She didn't tell you about that?" Echo raised an eyebrow at Soph. "She jumped in front of me when Tambor tried to shoot me."

"Yeah, and Rex is mad at me for it," Soph explained.

"Have you tried explaining to him why you did it?"

"Not good enough for him," she shrugged. "He doesn't get why I'd risk my life for Echo. I tried telling him that I knew Echo would do the same for me and he deserved the same, but it wasn't enough, and then we got called to Coruscant."

Padme grimaced. "Sounds like you guys need to sit down and talk."

"Yep," she agreed. "And we will as soon as we're back together. Right now he's off with Anakin doing Force knows what."

"Well, in the meantime, I'll write up that address and put it in for our next meeting. I'd like for you to look over that before the meeting - both of you."

"We can do that," Echo agreed. He was frowning slightly to himself and was quiet when he spoke. He clearly had thoughts about their conversation, but he wasn't jumping to share.

"For now, I think it's time we get some food. If it's alright with you, we'll meet you back here after."

"Sounds good to me. I'll get to work. You two take a moment to rest. You more than deserve it."

OoOoOoOoOoOo