Fives crossed his arms over his chest and waited. He was patient… sometimes. He could wait for Echo to stop.

Echo was very much not calm. He was in the gun range, shooting out his plasma cartridges. It was only when he'd run out the last one that he turned to face his brother. "I told you to leave me alone."

"Not when you're this angry," Fives raised an eyebrow. "Better to annoy you than you rip out the captain's throat."

"I'm not going to-," he tipped his head back in frustration as he made his way over to the table with the plasma cartridges. He picked up a few, putting one in his pistol at the same time. He stepped back to the range and began shooting again. "I am frustrated. That's all."

"That's not all and you know it."

"What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to express yourself for once in your damn life," Fives snapped. "You can't push this down. It's as dangerous as Rex's issues."

Echo clenched his jaw and kept shooting. He didn't want to talk and he didn't want to confront the frustrating emotions he was going through. He wanted to shoot out his anger instead of discussing it.

"Echo, c'mon. This isn't healthy."

"I don't know what you expect me to say," he said, lowering his pistol. He stared at the target blankly. "That I'm furious with Rex?"

"It's a start."

"Fine," he spun, his eyes dark. "Rex is making dangerous decisions. Ventress viciously attacked Soph in a way that he could never understand and he let her go by denying direct orders for so long. He's going to get her killed one of these days doing what he thinks is for the best. Soph is the best general out there and he doesn't trust her opinion. He may be her husband, but he isn't acting like it and he sure as hell doesn't deserve her if he can't even respect her."

Fives sighed. "And?"

"And while Rex is out looking for Ventress to no avail, Soph is sitting in the med bay in so much pain and so much distress - even if she isn't showing it well - and has no one there to support her. The one person who should be there volunteered to be sent away from her because of his guilt. He doesn't have her best interests in mind, though he thinks he does, and it's harming her physically and emotionally. I can't stand by while Soph is… Fives, I can't."

"This… connection between the two of you…" Fives started slowly. He had to be careful. Echo was in a dangerous mood and he didn't want to set him off. "It's powerful, you know that."

"What we went through-,"

"Force, Echo, it's more than understandable," Fives shook his head. "But the more time you spend with her, the more you…"

"What?"

"The more you fall in love with her."

Echo froze completely. Fives wasn't even sure he was breathing. Slowly, he moved again in practiced movements meant to show him casually moving along. Instead, it just showed Fives how tense he was. "You're insane."

"Brother, I know you better than anyone else. I've seen you at your worst, and right now, I'm seeing you at your best. You've never truly been happy, but right now, you're very close to it. I'm not here to tell you that you're being reckless, that your feelings for her are dangerous, or that you shouldn't feel that way. I just need you to recognize it for what it is so you can move forward purposefully. Whatever that purpose is, it's up to you."

"I just want her safe and happy," Echo told him. "I want to be by her side to protect her in whatever role that may be."

"Right now, it's being her best friend," Fives told him. "Is that good enough for you?"

"Whatever role it may be," Echo repeated. "For now, I'm going to shoot out my frustrations for two more hours until she lets me back into the med bay."

Fives shook his head, confused. "She kicked you out?"

"Something about sleeping," he shrugged. "Can't do that, so I'm just going to pretend I did."

"She's fine, you know."

"She's got three broken ribs and a sprained collarbone," Echo stared at him. "The bacta tank couldn't even heal them entirely."

"Yeah, but she's here and she's being looked after," Fives insisted. "Which means you can rest."

"I'll rest when she's better."

"You're an idiot."

"Thank you," Echo stared at Fives. "Can I get back to this now?"

"Shoot to your heart's content," Fives nodded. "I'm going to bug her til you get back."

"I'll definitely feel better with you there," Echo said as he turned back to look at the target down range. "Until she lets me back in."

"Oh, I'm telling her you haven't slept," he laughed. "But I'll keep her company and keep her safe while you get a couple hours in at least."

Echo sighed, resigned to the rest he was being forced to get. "Three hours."

"Good enough for me," Fives agreed. He clapped his brother on the shoulder. "But I'm sending Hevy to make sure you're actually sleeping."

"Don't trust me?"

"Not in the least."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"This is a bad idea."

"Why?"

"Well…" Cutup grimaced. "When Tambor had you guys and we were looking for you, we may have… gone to Dooku."

Soph blinked. "Why?"

"They were certain that he could find you," Droidbait shrugged. "I guess he did."

"Dooku was the one to find us?" Echo asked, surprised.

"He pointed us in your direction," Hevy confirmed.

"I still don't see the problem," Soph told them.

"Well, the thing is, he told us to tell him when we found you and, uh, I don't think anyone ever did."

Soph stared. "Guys!"

"That's like telling her elderly great-grandfather that she's being tortured and just never following up on it," Echo laughed. Soph's lips twitched.

"The poor man's heart may not be able to handle it," she snorted. "But really, I wish someone had told me."

"In our defense, things were a bit busy."

"Well, let's not keep him waiting, I suppose."

When they got to Serenno, they made their way from their ship and to Dooku's castle. Inside they were led to the familiar office holding the man in question. Soph waved when he looked up. "Hey."

"I thought you were dead," he said calmly. He looked her over closely as he set his datapad down. "I am glad to see I was wrong."

She shrugged as she sat down. "I wasn't aware that they came to you until an hour ago, or I'd have let you know that I'm fine long ago."

"Define 'fine,'" Echo requested. Soph narrowed her eyes at him. He raised an eyebrow back.

"You can keep your mouth shut," she huffed. "I'm fine, enough."

Dooku hummed. "And what can I do for you today?"

Soph sighed. "After Tambor got us, Ventress showed up."

His eyebrows rose. "I see."

"She invaded my mind," she said softly. She missed the way Echo's eyes darkened and Fives exchanged a confused glance with Hevy. "Twice. She helped Tambor escape after he killed my men and shot me, and then she lured me to Coruscant by a faked assassination attempt on Padme Amidala and did it again there. I'm not entirely sure what information she's looking for from me, but I need help stopping her before she can get it."

Dooku's lips thinned. "Have you taken the proper steps to heal your mind?"

She hesitated. "I'll be honest, I've never asked anyone if there even are steps to take to heal my mind."

"You haven't told anyone," he understood. "Why?"

Soph exchanged a glance with Echo. He looked hesitant, but he gave her a short, supportive nod. She took in a slow breath. "I'm not blind to the negative connotations of invading someone's mind. Truthfully, Dooku, I'm not going to be looked at in pity. Standing before the Council and telling them what happened sounds… horrifying."

He looked troubled. It surprised her, but she wasn't sure why. He'd made it clear that he cared for her at least a little and she'd just told him something absolutely despicable had happened to her by his old apprentice. "There is no love lost between the Council and I, but I will say, Yoda has experience counseling injured minds. Perhaps go to him personally."

Soph sighed. "I really don't think it's necessary. I've been through it before. If I just wait-,"

"You will cause even more damage to your mind," he disagreed. "I cannot coach you through this, Soph-Katarina. You must go to the expert in this."

"He might be right," Echo told her gently. "You need to heal. More than that, you want to heal."

"It's just…"

"I get it," he reminded her. "But you'll come out the other side better in more ways than one."

Soph grimaced. "Okay."

"As for my old apprentice," Dooku's eyes darkened. "I will find her and put an end to it."

"If she's still working for the Separatists, we should bring her in, boss," Fives suggested.

"If you can capture her, please let us know and we'll come get her," Soph decided. "If she can't be captured… she's dangerous enough, reckless enough, and angry enough that she can be dealt with in any way necessary."

"And she will be," Dooku promised. "You will not see her again unless she is your prisoner."

The relief that flooded through Soph was heavy. "Thank you."

She moved to leave, but he stopped her. "I can sense it within you, Soph-Katarina."

She turned back and frowned. "What?"

"The seed of darkness," he answered calmly. "The anger. The hurt. The fear. You say nothing, but it overwhelms you."

Echo glanced at Soph, expecting her to roll her eyes and ignore the comment, but she'd frozen. She was completely still, and her face was completely blank.

"You're mistaken."

"I am not, my dear," he disagreed. "I have given into that feeling myself. I know it better than you would. Be wary of it. Those feelings take over your entire being if you're not careful."

She was tense as she replied, her lips thin. "Thank you for handling Ventress. Please let me know when you've handled it. We'll be taking our leave now."

Dooku looked mildly disappointed. "Safe travels, little one."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Soph's only thought at that moment was that returning to the Resolute had been a mistake.

They'd returned to the ship for fuel and a two rotation break between deliveries, as well as a follow up with Coric for Soph. The first day had gone fine. They'd gotten rest, and she'd gone to her check up - which went about as expected. Her ribs weren't healing well, and a deeper scan revealed that her collar bone was broken and not sprained. She'd been given pain meds and orders to come back in a week for another check up, which she'd reluctantly accepted.

While she was at her check up, Echo had been staying firmly in his barracks for a number of reasons - Soph being all of them. Cutup had brought him dinner the night before and he'd skipped breakfast. Finally, reluctantly, he went for lunch when Droidbait had nagged him enough.

They'd eaten fine, sitting with Jesse and Kix as they did so. It was nice to catch up since they'd been away from the 501st for so long, and would continue to be away from their brothers for even longer.

It was as he was throwing away his trash that Rex approached Echo. He'd seen him coming the second he'd entered the mess hall and had been preparing himself as soon as he saw the way Rex was making his way over. He took in a breath. "Captain."

"Echo. Come with me."

He suppressed a sigh and finished throwing away his trash before he followed Rex out of the mess hall. They were silent as they walked, making their way to Rex's office. The man didn't move to sit - he began pacing instead. Echo stood there tensely, waiting. Finally, after waiting for a while, he spoke. "Sir, is there something… wrong?"

"Yes," Rex said sharply. "Look, Echo. Soph likes you."

So it was about Soph. He wasn't surprised, and he wasn't happy about it. He didn't think he could suppress his anger toward his captain if they discussed her. "Okay."

"I do not."

"I'm well aware, sir."

"You tortured Soph and pretend to be her friend still."

Echo's lips thinned. "I understand you feel that way, yes."

"This information about a new chip is… questionable at best," he continued, surprising Echo. He didn't believe them about that? "If you were able to resist enough to soften the blows, you should have resisted enough to tell us what was happening."

"I can see why you see it that way."

Rex glared daggers at him. "Soph can't see it now because of whatever… bond has been created from that experience, but you're only harming her."

"I'm harming her?"

His eyes sharpened on Echo. "Watch yourself, soldier. You can be sent away and replaced like that."

Echo couldn't help the way his face twisted at the audacity of the statement. "I'm sure she'd love to hear that, sir."

"Soph isn't going to hear about this conversation," Rex told him sharply. "I want you to ask to be transferred."

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"No," he repeated. "She'd deny it, anyway."

"No, she wouldn't," he disagreed. "If she thought you were unhappy and wanted to leave-,"

"She knows me better than to believe the lies I tell her," Echo interrupted with a glare. "You can't go behind her back and try to rid yourself of your problems."

"Her problems."

"Your problems," he said again. "Don't pretend this is for anyone but yourself."

"Soph is unhappy because-,"

"Because of you!" Echo snapped. "But you won't see it, or you can't admit it to yourself, so you see me as the problem instead when, without me, she'd be alone."

"She has me."

Echo scoffed. His temper had snapped and he wasn't holding back anymore. "She hasn't had you since she came back on Rishi. You suffocate her. You are going to get her killed, or get other men killed, all because you're so terrified for her. We had to go to Dooku for help because you let Ventress get away. Soph isn't happy and it isn't my fault, Rex, it's yours."

"You cannot tell me my wife isn't happy when you tortured her and got her shot!" Rex yelled. "Don't pretend to be the good guy here. I see you for what you are - dangerous."

"I'll put it plainly for you - the reason Soph has clung to me like this is because she no longer feels you are a safe emotional outlet. You've pushed her away and away and now you're coming after me for your failings. You failed as a husband and it's no one's fault but your own."

He wasn't sure why he was surprised when Rex's fist collided with his face. He should've seen it coming a mile away, he knew, but it did nothing to help as he turned his head with the punch. He nearly stumbled back, but he regained his balance just in time and instead stood there firmly staring at Rex. He spoke quietly but firmly. "I'm sorry, Rex."

"For?" Rex prompted, expecting an apology for everything he'd accused him of.

"I'm sorry because I really, truly think you've just destroyed any hope you had of fixing things," Echo told him. "I can't hide this from her and neither can you."

"You will tell her you got it training," Rex ordered. Echo scoffed.

"No, I won't. She wouldn't believe me - I'm not so careless that I'd let someone punch me in the face."

"You just did."

"I'm not going to get in a fist fight with you," Echo rolled his eyes. "Are we done here?"

"Not yet."

At that point, Echo knew that whatever he did, Soph wouldn't punish him for. He probably could've punched Rex back - if he could land the punch, that was - without Soph even getting mad at him. So, when he turned on his heel and left despite Rex yelling at him, he knew he was fine, and he knew what he had to do. He pressed a few buttons on his comms and waited.

"Sizre."

"Where are you?"

There was a pause as she, assumedly, checked to see who called. "Oh, hey. I'm on the command deck with Anakin. Wanna come see us?"

Echo sighed. "I will, but just… be prepared."

"For what?"

"I'll see you in a few minutes," he promised. He tapped his comms again, ending the call, and headed toward her. Rex's office wasn't far from where she was at, so he took the five minute walk to reach her. When he got there, Anakin saw him first and his eyes widened.

"Jesus, what happened to you?"

Soph spun to spot him. She tensed at the sight. "Echo, what the hell?"

"Soph," he grimaced. She hurried over to him and reached a hand up to touch his eyebrow gently. She pulled back immediately when he winced.

"Force, what happened?"

"I don't…" he hesitated. How was he supposed to tell her the truth? With a sigh, he nodded toward a conference room. "Can we talk?"

She nodded and led him in, and he glanced back when he realized Anakin was following. He didn't mind - Anakin was Rex's commanding officer, and he needed to know as well. Soph would've told him, anyway. "What the hell happened?"

"Rex punched me."

Soph's entire body tensed. Her jaw set, and she looked angrier than he'd ever seen her. The darkness had returned, and even Anakin jolted in surprise as it filled the room. "I see. Why?"

Hesitantly, Echo began. "He took me to his office. He blamed me for not telling you I'd been chipped again. He told me that I'm harming you, and that I can be sent away and replaced. He told me to request a transfer and tell you that I'm unhappy here. He blamed me for what's happened to you and told me that I'm bad for you, and then he punched me when I snapped at him. He then told me to lie to you and tell you that I was punched while training."

"Put some ice on that," Soph ordered before turning and leaving the room.

"That's going to be… bad," Anakin muttered. "Go after her in twenty minutes."

Echo nodded sharply. "Yes, sir."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Soph didn't knock. She slammed the door open with the Force as she strode toward the office. Rex was inside with a shiny. When she got there, they both looked up and she saw Rex pale. Her eyes snapped to the shiny sitting down. "Out. Now."

"Yes, sir," the shiny said, excusing himself with a great speed. Once he was gone, she glared daggers at Rex.

"I'm done."

He shook his head, confused. "With what?"

"This," she said sharply. "I'm done with the obsessive concern over my wellbeing, the anger toward Echo for something outside of his control, the disobeying direct orders, the controlling behavior, the anger- all of it."

"What do you mean?"

"You punched Echo!"

"And I shouldn't have, but he was being extremely insubordinate and I couldn't-,"

"You'd be fucking lucky if I don't transfer you."

Rex tensed. "Soph."

"I told you I'm done," she reminded him. "And it fucking breaks my heart that you've put me in this place, Rex. I loved you so much."

"Loved?" he watched her, dread pooling in his stomach.

"You're not the man I fell in love with," she answered softly, the energy draining out of her. "You're blinded by your fear over my potential death. You thought I was invincible and now you don't, and it's ruined what we had. And I can't blame you - you're meant to believe in Jedi to protect you, suggesting that we can't be killed. So I don't blame you, but you've let this fear control you, turning you into a person that I know you're not. You're better than this, and you need to become who you really are once again and without me."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I can't do this anymore," she whispered. "I'm not in love with you anymore. I asked for change, I told you how serious it was, and you didn't do anything. I'm not in love with you anymore, but I do love you and I really, truly hope that you can find what you need to be the person I know you are once again."

"Soph, I'm sorry," he said softly. He wasn't arguing, he wasn't even defending himself. Seeing her in front of him, tears beginning to roll down her face silently, he felt the weight of how heavily he'd fucked up. He knew he'd truly lost her, and the pain of it was almost overwhelming, but he breathed out slowly and felt resigned. "You need change. If I…"

"I'm sorry," she shook her head. "I want to say yes, but… but I can't. I just truly, really want you to heal from this. I'll be here, waiting to be your best friend again if you ever want that. For now… fuck. Anakin's going to want to transfer you. I'll talk to him, but you may be sent to the 212th for some time to allow us to both heal a bit from this."

"I understand."

"I'm sorry," she repeated. She turned to head for the door, but she hesitated before leaving. "I do love you, Rex. I just can't love you like that anymore."

OoOoOoOoOoOo