The boy! A bit traumatized, but alive!

CW: Missing limbs, combat injuries, suggestive moments (Hunters fault)

Heat.

Searing, unimaginable heat.

Licking his back, launching him across the platform, slamming him into a wall, sending it all spiraling into a bleak darkness that echoed with the cacophony of the explosion.

Pain.

Horrible, nauseating pain worse than the fires of hell.

Terror.

Panic.

Where was he?

Fives.

Fives!

Where was Fives?!

He wouldn't have left him. Fives would never leave him.

Fives was always there for him. Was always nearby. He wouldn't leave him.

Fives would never leave him.

In his pain fueled delirium, ARC Trooper Echo felt someone by his side.

Fives?

Fives!

He came back for him!

"Fives," he rasped, blindly reaching out.

"Not… exactly."

Disappointment sank into his chest, turning his limbs to lead. It… wasn't Fives? Where was Fives?

He forced his eyes open.

A human face greeted him once his vision cleared, their blue eyes wide with worry.

Blue… cat-eyes?

Wait, they had furry ears as well. And a karkin' tail, bearing the same cinnamon and gold tabby markings as their ears.

Not a human, then. Close, but not quite.

About his height, their broad shoulders and toned arms suggested a rough occupation that required a lot of physical activity, but other than that he had no idea who or what this not-quite-human was. Or if they were a man or woman. Softer features suggested female, but short hair and a flat chest pointed towards male. Maybe they were one of those species that had an intermix of traits?

Droidbait was always the one interested in other species, not him.

As he blinked at them, confused, they spoke slowly. "Hey, trooper. Can ya hear me?"

"Yes," Echo croaked. The blast must have damaged his vocal cords.

"That's a start," they chuckled, offering him a gentle smile. "Take it easy. You're safe now."

"Where am I?" he groaned, eyes shifting around the small interior. It looked to be a makeshift med-bay that doubled as a storage compartment, various food items shelved next to the medical supplies.

His eyes settled on a tall yet lean grey-haired figure in the corner, half hidden in deep shadow. Arms crossed over his chest and a toothpick in his mouth, he studied Echo with narrowed, mistrustful eyes, one of which had a rifle sight tattoo over it.

On his shoulder sat… well, Echo wasn't really sure what it was. The size of a tooka, it looked sort of like an acklay-nexu hybrid with six limbs, a barbed tail, and antenna-bulb such as those found on some of the weirder deepsea creatures on Kamino. He hadn't the faintest idea what it was.

"Havoc Marauder," the not-human said, causing Echo to bring his focus back to them. "Ain't the most glorious of ships in the GAR, but hey, it does it's job." Their tail flicked behind them, drawing his attention once more.

What exactly were they? He'd come across humanoids covered in skin, humanoids covered in fur, but never a mix like this. A new species, perhaps? Or a member of that species from Tresed? He'd heard they had an intermix of traits like this. Alpines, were they?

"Watch your eyes, reg," the man in the corner hissed.

Before Echo could respond that he wasn't that kind of trooper, the not-human shot the man a glare. "If you're gonna just loom in the shadows like a pissy graveyard wraith, you can leave."

The man glared but didn't say anything.

They turned back to Echo. "Ignore him, Wrecker must have ticked him off earlier."

"Don't apologize for me," the man growled, taking the toothpick from his mouth and jabbing it towards them.

"Well, someone's gotta," the not-human retorted, unfazed.

There were more than just these two, then. But they had said this ship was a part of the GAR? Was the man in the corner a clone just like Echo himself? He didn't look like a brother.

"Who are you?" he asked the not-human.

"Me? Shadow works. That angry scarecrow in the corner is Crosshair," they introduced, jerking a thumb at the glaring man. "Nothing, the Night Hunter, is on his shoulder"

They named the creature Nothing?

"Tech is off tinkerin' somewhere, Wrecker's flyin', and Hunter-"

The doors to the compartment opened, revealing an intimidating trooper with half his face tattooed like a skull and shoulder length hair partially pinned back by a red bandana with a small white skull on it. Like the other man in the corner, he wore only his blacks. So, Echo had been picked up by brothers, then. What was up with the unfriendly brother, Crosshair, though? He didn't resemble a standard trooper.

And who was Shadow to them? Judging by Crosshair's hostile reaction when Echo looked at their tail, Shadow was most likely the lean brother's romantic partner. But why were they with them on the ship? Unless they were a Jedi in command of this squad. Or maybe they were a Padawan assigned to them like Commander Tano.

No, Crosshair wouldn't be dating them. Jedi were always talking about forbidden attachments. Shadow seemed too rough to be a Jedi anyways. At least those that he knew. Then again, Skywalker wasn't the most orthodox of Jedi either and was pretty friendly with that one senator.

Shadow looked over their shoulder at the newcomer. "Hey, Sarge. He's up."

Sarge? This was the officer of the squad? Why were there only four? Squad's usually had nine men, not four. Unless they were commandos? Experimental commandos, perhaps? That would explain the variation in appearance.

"See that," the sergeant, Hunter, remarked, his voice lower and rougher than a usual brother's as he looked over Echo. His gaze was stern, yet not unkind. "How're you feeling?"

"Been better," Echo replied, joints aching. At least his legs weren't in pain.

Horror seized his chest, turning his blood cold.

No, it wasn't that he couldn't feel pain.

He couldn't feel anything.

He yanked off the thin sheet draped over his lower half. Where his legs should have been were only stumps, everything below his mid-thigh gone.

Voice much weaker, he rasped, "Been a lot better."

Shadow's ears flattened again. "I… We couldn't save your legs," they said, stumbling over their words as their tail twitched rapidly from side to side. "We managed to save your arm, but Tech thinks there's some pretty bad nerve damage."

"Pretty bad damage all over," Echo muttered, surveying the numerous patches of burned skin. His armor and blacks must have shielded him from the worst of the explosion, but it seemed the flames reached him nevertheless.

"Tech's workin' on some cybernetics, but we don't exactly have high end medical capabilities to do all the nerve attachments on the ship here." They gestured to the cereal box beside the roll of bandages. "Back at our small base on Naboo we'll be able to fix you up"

"I can't go to Naboo," Echo stressed, shifting.

He had to get back to Fives. Fives would assume he was dead. That's the only reason he would have left him behind. He'd never leave him behind otherwise. They were all each other had. The last surviving members of Domino squad.

Fives would never leave him.

Shadow shook their head. "Mate, listen. I get you want to return to your brothers, but think. You'd be immediately separated again and shipped off to some medical facility before being put back in statis. This way you at least can recover as a man, not as a faceless soldier. Even as an ARC, they wouldn't let you take actual leave."

They're a blunt one, Echo thought dryly.

But their words held truth to them. The Kaminoans certainly wouldn't want him treated anywhere else, and they weren't exactly the kindest when it came to helping injured clones.

Wait, how… how do they know I'm an ARC?

"Ice, need to talk with you," the sergeant said, resting a hand on Shadow's back.

"'Aight." They gave Echo a hesitant yet reassuring pat on the shoulder. As they passed by Crosshair, Shadow ordered, "Watch him for a bit."

If possible, the man's scowl deepened. "Why do I have to babysit the reg?"

Reg? Like regulations? How was he a regulation?

Shadow flicked his forehead. "Don't be an asshole, Twiggy," they retorted, pointing a stern finger at him before leaving.

"They're… strong spirited," Echo ventured, trying to make conversation with him. If he was stuck in this pantry/med-bay with Crosshair, he may as well learn more about who had rescued him. Even if the man seemed as conversational as a statue.

Crosshair's eyes narrowed at him, the man remaining silent before muttering, "Don't know the half of it."

Nothing chirped in agreement.

"Are they a bounty hunter?"

The man stiffened. "Shadow is a member of our team, reg."

What in the galaxy was a reg? All Echo could think about was how hard Fives would punch this guy for talking to him like that.

"They got shot savin' you," Crosshair continued. "Better show 'em respect."

Got shot? Echo hadn't seen any bandages or bacta. Shadow wasn't limping either, nor did they seem like they were in any sort of pain. Where were they shot?

But what was Crosshair's problem? He was being respectful! Couldn't the man see that?

This guy needs to lighten up. Who are these guys, anyway?

Echo swallowed nervously. He hadn't been caught by a band of deserters who worked as bounty hunters, had he? No, Shadow had said the ship was a part of the GAR. Unless they were lying?

"Why would they risk their life for a soldier?" he asked.

Crosshair looked towards the doors, scowl lifting ever so slightly. "They're just like that."

"Sounds like a Jedi," Echo remarked.

"No," Crosshair said firmly. A faint smirk appeared on his face. "They're far better."

-nnnnnnnnnnnnn-

"You're contactin' Cody about him, right?"

"Yes, I'm contactin' Cody about him," I retorted, arms crossed as I faced off against the sergeant.

While the team had all agreed to help me rescue Echo, none of them were too pleased about the current passenger. A fact that some were more vocal about than others. After all, a reg was a reg to them, no matter who it was.

Despite growing extremely close due to some fanfiction fast track nonsense, I still wasn't as close to them as they were with each other. They went through too much shit with the Regs long before I got here, and while they accepted that I liked some of the Regs…

They still didn't care for them.

And probably never would.

But man am I not looking forward to contacting Cody…

Because I highly doubted he'd forgive me after that night.

"How long were you askin' for, again?" Hunter asked, rubbing his temple.

"Tech!" I called, glancing over at the engineer as he tinkered. "How long were you figurin'?"

"To get him remotely combat ready, I will need a week to tweak and fine tune his alterations," he replied, voice half muffled by his welder's mask.

Oddly enough, Tech was the most chill about Regs. Wrecker found them amusing more than anything, but as for Hunter and Crosshair…

At least Hunter tolerated them.

Tech raised his mask and looked at us. "You left Crosshair alone with the reg?"

"Yeah," I said, twitching an ear. "It's good for him. Builds character."

"Certainly not good for the reg," Tech commented, slapping the mask back down and fiddling with some circuits.

"Watch those sparks," Hunter warned before turning his attention back to me. "Look, Icy. I know this reg is important to you. So, don't take this the wrong way-"

"You don't like a reg on the ship."

"We're so used to not havin' 'em around." He rubbed the back of his neck. "This… is different."

"Hey, you managed with this reg in canon," I reminded him, lightly smacking his chest with the back of my hand. "Even offered him a slot in your merry little band of misfits."

Reflexes sharp as ever, he snatched my hand mid-smack. "Ah, but I'm not canon Hunter, am I?" he chuckled, lips ghosting over my knuckles as those rich brown eyes stared intently into mine.

I grabbed his chin. "No, you certainly ain't. And I prefer it that way."

Another low chuckle. "Oh, I know you do."

"Please take your flirtations elsewhere, I cannot concentrate," Tech grumbled, vindictively sparking the welder our way.

"Hey, I said watch the sparks," Hunter growled, not moving his face from my grip.

A spiteful click of the welder before Tech resumed his work.

Chwoosh.

I looked out the cockpit window, smiling at the blue, green, and white marble of Naboo. "It's good to be back here," I said, heading into the cockpit and pulling the sergeant by the hand along with me as he continued to berate Tech for his "mutinous tricks".

"Can say that again, Squeaky!" Wrecker laughed, shooting a wide grin my way. "How 'bout a celebratory kiss?"

"Don't mind if I do," Hunter said, swiftly kissing me on the cheek.

"Hey!" Wrecker barked. "I meant 'em kissin' me!"

"I'm the leader, I go first."

"Nuh uh! Squeaky's the real leader! You're the figureshed."

"Figurehead," Hunter and I corrected simultaneously.

"Whatever! Squeak's the real one in charge."

"Hardly!" Hunter exclaimed. "They follow my lead."

"Cap," Wrecker and I replied at the same time, causing us to break down into a fit of laughter at Hunter's expense.

Nursing his wounded pride, the sergeant huffed. "I'm checkin' on the reg and Crosshair," he grumbled, retreating into the main compartment of the ship. He yanked my tail as he went. "And you are gonna get it later."

"Consider my timbers shivered," I snickered, earning a dark yet playful glare.

Wrecker reached out and wrapped an arm around my waist. Dragging me to his side, he grinned mischievously. "C'mere, you!"

"Hey, keep your eyes on landin'!" I laughed, punching his shoulder. "Or you're gonna live up to the curse of crashin' whenever you travel with Regs!"

"Oh, but I can handle it!" he swore with a flirtatious grin. "'Sides! We got autopilot, watch!" Quickly configuring the automated system, he pulled me onto his lap. "Now, how 'bout that celebration kiss?"

"Alright, you've twisted my arm," I chuckled, hands moving from his shoulders to either side of his face. Days of stubble felt rough beneath my fingertips and palms as I leaned in closer. "Deal."

Big thanks to patrons Jesse and Lil! Chapters 3&4 are now available for all patrons!