Author's Note: I have never written Riyo Chuchi before and rarely Echo and Fives, so I apologize in advance if they're horribly out of character.
Just Rewards
"Ambush!"
Senator Riyo Chuchi nearly swallowed her tongue, letting out a gasp as the armored body of one of her guards slammed into her from the side. At almost the exact same moment, the retort of blaster fire reached her ears.
Thrown to the side, the strong, hard arms of her rescuer wrapped about her securely, she didn't so much as feel the ground as he curled about her. His body cushioned her fall as the sound of more blaster fire erupted. Rolling under the transport, the clone holding her - ARC Echo by his armor markings - positioned himself immediately to provide the maximum protection in both padding and cover.
It resulted with her nearly flat against one of the landing struts of her craft, shielded by metal on one side, Echo's form on the other.
Her heart leapt in her chest and into her throat. One arm cradled her from hip to shoulder, holding her fast against his chest. The edge of his vambrace was twisted just enough that she could feel it but it didn't dig in. His other arm was out stretched over top them both, holding them in place so they hadn't hit the strut.
One leg was underneath her, the thigh plate of his armor not nearly as unforgiving as the duracrete she would have otherwise been lying on, his other leg thrown over hers in a vice. His torso was curved protectively about her and she was effectively surrounded by Echo, cocooned from harm.
Cringing as the blaster fire rang across the platform, pinging in what sounded like a series of progressively closer hits, Riyo closed her eyes and tucked it close to the plastoid chest of the soldier holding her. Echo was tense when the sound of a clone's answering fire suddenly rang out with deliberation.
In the suddenly silence that followed, she could hear a faint buzzing sound, an indication that he was using his internal comm. He relaxed a fraction and Riyo assumed it to mean that ARC Fives had survived the fire fight and was communicating with Echo. Still; she preferred confirmation.
"What is it, ARC Trooper Echo?"
There was a barely audible click as the external mic was turned on, his modulated voice coming through lower than normal, a match to her softly spoke question. "Fives just needs to check the sniper's vantage point to make sure it was a kill shot." There was an almost gentle curve to the matter of fact assessment of the situation, as if he was trying to reassure her. "No casualties on our side."
"I am relieved to hear that." There was a pause as she expected him to move. "Shouldn't we leave before they regroup?"
"You're safe, Senator." His grip on her didn't ease nor did the position in which he held her protectively. "We just need to get a body for identification."
"Perhaps I should take a look," she started to squirm a little, half halfheartedly trying to break his hold even, "to see if I can identify who-"
"It'd be better if you remain hidden for now, Senator," he returned immediately, cutting her off. Though he did ease her off his legs and reposition himself. "Fives will just be a minute."
"ARC Trooper Echo-"
"Just Echo; please."
She smiled, enjoying the feeling of being protected by his larger frame all the while cradled protectively in his arms like something precious. "Echo then; could we not move to someplace else? We are a little exposed here, despite being under the transport; aren't we?"
"I'll keep you safe, Senator. If Fives missed, and that's very unlikely, I don't want to give the shooters another chance at you."
Staying silent, Riyo curled her fingers against the plastoid under her cheek, wishing she could feel the heartbeat beneath it. She'd had interactions with this trooper before he'd become an ARC and he was as gentle with her now as she remembered him being as a regular trooper. Part of her wished he'd take his helmet off. She could still remember when he'd smiled at her as they'd blasted away from the near debacle with the Talz, offering a kind of silent reassurance few had seemed to realize she'd needed. Echo had somehow known, and given it, but he'd denied it in the end when she'd attempted to speak with him.
"Do you remember Pantora?"
"Before or after the mission with the Talz, Senator?"
"After... when everything was finished?"
There was a pause before he answered her, his words soft even through the mic of his helmet. "I do."
"You were… very kind to me, Echo."
There was a pause and then Echo shifted. "We have confirmation on the kill, Senator," he was suddenly all business and Riyo sighed inwardly, lifting her head from his chest to look into the mirrored visor with its distinctive helmet pattern, "the sniper is dead and the area secure; we can move now."
I don't want to. The thought probably shouldn't have been surprising under the circumstances but it was. She inwardly cringed; she couldn't afford to get attached to anyone, let alone a clone trooper. His life expectancy could be measured in hours and days; it was asking for heart ache. "And go where?"
Echo lifted his head and promptly knocked it on the underside of the craft. His rescue of her having taken them fairly far under the shuttle, the impromptu ceiling lower than he'd obviously expected. Echo turned his head, glancing at the roof, as if to blame it for the contact, and visibly took in their situation.
Riyo giggled, earning herself a look of that mirrored visor that only made her laugh harder. "I wish I could see your face!"
Surprisingly, he obliged her, a slight hiss of his helmet unsealing followed by a careful removal; as she suspected when he looked at her, he seemed as amused as she was. "Better, Senator?"
"Much," she agreed, sobering. Reaching up, she touched his cheek with her finger tips, not unaware of the fact that he'd said it was time to move and hadn't done more than look around. He seemed as disinclined as she was to lose the moment. "Thanks." He arched his eyebrows, as if confused, so she clarified for him. "For saving my life."
There was a long moment as he watched her in silence before he spoke. "Sometimes our duties aren't the work they should be, but a real pleasure." His amber eyes were intense, but soft, staring down into hers, and Riyo wasn't disappointed when he continued. "It was my honor and privilege."
Her lips quirked. "I wish all my security staff felt hat way; can I keep you?
"As a Senator you can request the assistance of any clone, by regulation and Senate special order, subsection -"
Her hand shifted to cover his lips, stopping him. "Echo."
"Sorry," his voice was muffled, but she could feel his lips curve into a shy smile. "Habit."
"Say: 'You're welcome, Riyo.'"
"It was a team effort, Senator," he told her instead as her fingers slipped to the side and the curve of his cheekbone. "Fives is the one who killed your attacker."
"But you were the one to get me out of the way of that first shot. If you hadn't done that, Fives killing anyone would have just been another training exercise."
"Never," he countered, "the regs call that revenge; there's a whole subsection on it."
She laughed softly. "Echo?"
"Yes, Senator?"
Leaning in, she brushed a kiss across the corner of his lips, making him freeze, his eyes widening in surprise. He made no move to pull away, so Riyo slid her fingers along his cheek, tilted his head and gently, sweetly, pressed her lips against his, closing her eyes in the process.
Belatedly, Echo seemed to realize what was happening, kissing her back for half a heartbeat, but Riyo was already pulling back, flushing a dark blue even as she opened her eyes to meet his again. She'd obviously caught him by surprise and, true to form, hadn't been able to adapt. It wasn't unlike when she'd last tried to engage him in conversation; she found the trait endearing. Under the tough ARC exterior, Echo had the eidetic memory of his sire and the social experience and wonderment of a child. "Thank you."
Staring at her, he nodded once, opening his mouth to respond when another voice, nearly identical to his reached them from the edge of the craft several feet behind him.
"Echo; what's your status, vod?"
The reverberation of a hand striking the plating made him wince and Riyo realized their small interlude was over. Fives was here to collect them. To ensure they were unharmed and, eventually, to finish their escort of her back to her suite.
Echo slapped his helmet back on, shot her a look and nodded towards the edge. Riyo smiled, nodded, and Echo finally released her. She felt the loss keenly, like a warm blanket after a day on the ice, but didn't quibble. She couldn't keep him, no matter what she might want otherwise, and a grateful kiss did not equate a lasting attraction.
Keeping that in mind didn't stop her from crawling out on his heels or ignoring the other hands offered to her to assist her back to her feet. She grasped only Echo's, holding on a moment longer than she should have, before straightening her shoulders and brushing herself off.
She missed the look Fives shot his brother, turning her thoughts to where they should be - someone had just tried to kill her - she deliberately pushed the distraction of Echo to the back of her mind. She was Riyo Chuchi, Senator of Pantora, and she didn't have time to moon over a clone, no matter how darkly, innocently adorable; there was work to be done.
An hour later
"Come on, Echo; what did she mean by that appreciation crack?"
"Just drop it Fives," Echo told his brother, exasperated as he pulled off his helmet and placed it with deliberation where it belonged on his footlocker. "It's nothing."
"Oh no; it's not noting." His gregarious brother, true to form, refused to let it drop. "She was talking about some kind of a reward, right?"
Echo kept his back to Fives, knowing his faint smile would give him away but unable to wipe it from his lips as he began undoing the fasteners to his armor. Senator Chuchi. She'd let her guard down under the shuttle, wrapped as she had been in his arms. Be it because of his protective position or something else, she'd clung to him even as he'd bodily placed himself to take whatever shot came next.
He'd known Fives would get the sniper, but Echo had seen enough combat to know a high profile target like the Senator would likely have more than one attacker. He hadn't told her, but Fives had actually killed three different snipers and a four other armed assailants who'd tried to storm the platform. She'd been in combat situations before, but he'd seen the effect being under the gun had on her and his protective side had come out in full force.
She'd become more than just an assignment; more than just another Senator - at least, she had been while they'd been wrapped so tightly together under the transport.
As soon as she'd emerged, she'd regained the cool aloof Echo privately suspected they taught as a part of Senatorial training. She'd formally thanked him and his brother specifically, praising their quick thinking and teamwork. Fives, cheeky bugger than he was, hadn't been able to resist running his mouth about the situation being all in a day's work and living for her appreciation.
The facetious comment had earned him a sharp, 'ARC Trooper Echo can give you a piece of my appreciation, ARC Trooper Fives' before she'd been hurried to safety by the rest of the security squad. It left the ARCs to following on a couple of singular occupant speeders. Fives had left the comment slide at the time but Echo had known it wouldn't last.
Professional to a fault while protecting the Senator, his brother had waited until they'd arrived back at their barracks and now, if Echo knew anything about Fives, the subject wouldn't be dropped; not until he was given an answer anyway.
"Let it go, Fives."
There was a laugh behind him as he pulled the breast plate free and dropped it on his bunk. "Not a chance, brother," a hand landed on his back in a familiar slap. "Come on, what was it?"
Echo exhaled, bracing himself and turned. Reaching up, he grabbed Fives by the sides of his head and pulled him close in a single move. Their lips connected for the briefest of moments and Echo registered it all with a kind of clinical detachment that hadn't been present when he'd been on the receiving end of the Senator's. Fives lips weren't almost the exact opposite of hers. Hard where she'd been soft; slack where she'd had purpose. Much, Echo reflected analytically, what my own lips must have felt like when she kissed me. I'm a di'kut for not immediately kissing her back.
"Fek, Echo!" Fives pushed him away, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. "What'd you do that for?"
"Even you aren't that dense, Fives," Echo could feel his ears burning as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Figure it out."
"I said for you to give me my half, not-"
"Something must be lost in translation; that was your half."
"What's lost in translation? I didn't tell you to…" Fives trailed off, suspicion dawning in his eyes. "Wait. The Senator kissed you?"
"See; I knew you'd figure it out." Turning away, Echo ducked his head back to his task, unfastening the shin guards and popping the seals on his boots.
"The Senator of Pantora kissed you."
"Yes, Fives."
"No!"
Echo smiled to himself as he peeled off his footwear and plating, setting his boots by the bed and the plastoid pieces with the others. There was a moment of silence where the only sound was his armor hitting the bed as the last of it was pulled off, leaving him in his bodyglove. He didn't respond to the incredulity in Fives' tone; there was no need to. Fives knew him better than anyone; knew him well enough to know he wouldn't lie.
"Well it's about fekking about time!"
Stiffening, insulted on the Senator's behalf, Echo rounded on his brother, his eyes narrowing, his voice holding a cautionary note. "If you mean what I think you mean, Fives; stop."
"What?" Fives was shucking his armor with almost indecent haste, tossing it haphazardly to his own bunk and no longer looking his way. "I can't be glad you've finally kissed a girl?"
His irritation immediately ebbed and Echo felt his ears heat once again. Choosing not to deign that question with a response, Echo reached for his towel. "I'm going to hit the showers."
"I'll give you a few before I join you."
Shaking his head, Echo slung his towel around his neck and headed for the door. "Don't wait on my account, Fives; unlike you, when it comes to a pretty woman, I've a thing called self control."
He gave Fives no chance to answer as he offered a grin and a two finger salute before stepping out of the room and heading for the showers. There might be hell to pay later, but for now, Echo intended to enjoy the few moments of peace... but only after he'd thoroughly washed his mouth.
fin
