Chapter 6 - When the Fire Is Fierce

Author's Note: Another familiar face shows up. ;D

~ Amina Gila

By meditate, Anakin did not mean he was going to cry for three hours until his eyes are sore and burning, but well, here he is. Doesn't matter much, though.

Reality didn't sink in until now. He lost everyone. There's not a single person in his family, of his friends, who remembers him, and that – it's not something he'll ever recover from. He needs to get back home, but these people... need him, too.

Sometimes, Anakin hates having to put duty first.

It's selfish.

It's pathetic.

He's the Chosen One.

He's supposed to be better than this.

But he's just so tired.

He wants to go home.

As of now, though, home is a very relative term, and not something that means much. They set out for Bracca almost right away, and Anakin at least no longer feels so awkward to be aboard the Marauder. Crosshair's absence is so glaringly obvious it hurts though. He can feel the emptiness now. They all feel empty. He doesn't think Omega really knew him, because she's the only one that doesn't seem to feel it. Not the same as the boys do, anyway.

Anakin still isn't entirely clear on who she is.

They manage to get on board a Star Destroyer on Bracca easily enough, but they'll still have to be careful about staying out of sight.

Anakin doesn't really understand the medical procedures enough to involve himself with them, so he stays out of it and lets Tech deal with it. Omega's helping him, and she seems to know enough about it that it finally piques his curiosity enough to ask. "What were you doing on Kamino when left?"

"She's a clone, like us," Hunter answers for her.

Anakin looks at her again, and that's when he finally places the similar familiarity. That makes sense, except it also... doesn't? "I didn't know you had a sister." He needs to see if she's in his own time, too. He's certainly never heard anything of it.

"Neither did we," Fives replies.

The conversation is interrupted when Tech approaches them. "I located the chip," he informs, "If it was removed with precision, the risks of permanent injury should be minimal."

But that doesn't mean there aren't any, and after what happened with Tup and Fives, Anakin doesn't know what to think.

"There's still a risk in its removal," Anakin objects. "After what happened last time, I'm not sure if it's something we want to try."

"If we left it in, it still has danger," Tech points out.

Anakin sighs. He doesn't want to say this. Doesn't want to ask them to do this. He doesn't want to call this and ask them to take the chance Wrecker could die. He has a family. They need him, and after losing Crosshair... "I can't ask you to do this."

"I think it might be a risk we have to take," Hunter says, glancing back at Wrecker. Anakin can feel the growing unease in his mind. He doesn't know how long they have before something happens. Wrecker's... losing himself. Slowly, but Anakin can feel it. "After what Crosshair did, I think it could be far more dangerous to leave it in."

"If it had the same effect, yes," Tech agrees.

"I don't want to ask you to do this," Anakin replies softly. "You could lose him, either way."

"If there's a chance of saving him, we have to try."

It's so easy to say ahead of time. Before it all goes wrong. Before someone dies.

"Okay," he breathes, nodding, "If – if you want to. If you think you need to." That doesn't make the worry fade.

Anakin's anxiety doesn't fade until the surgery is over, and... Wrecker makes it. He takes a while to wake up, but he's fine, and he's himself, no matter how worried all of them were over it. The relief he feels is almost ridiculous, but if it started out well, he can hope it'll stay true.

They take out all their chips, and... they're fine.

His Fives wasn't, but they are.

It doesn't make sense, and it hurts too much for him to think about. What went wrong in his time? Or was there more he didn't understand?

And on that note, he still doesn't know what happened to Echo here, but everyone thought he was dead in Anakin's reality. If... what if that's true here, too? He has no idea, but it almost feels worth trying. If this worked, maybe it's not too far to try something else.

"In my reality, we... thought Echo was lost, but we found later that he was alive, held prisoner by the Techno Union who were... allied with the CIS," Anakin starts. He doesn't want to bring Echo up again knowing how much the mere mention if his name hurt Fives earlier, but if there's a chance that he's still alive, they have to do something about it. He doesn't know if the Techno Union was working with the CIS in this time, but so many Separatist leaders were the same.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Fives asks, eyeing him.

"I don't know what happened here," Anakin replies, "I don't want to hope, but we were so certain he was dead. He should have been, but somehow, he survived."

"He's gone, Anakin," Fives answers fiercely, practically glaring.

"What happened?" Anakin queries, even if he's afraid to. He wants to know if it's really a guarantee, if they can be certain there's nothing to it.

"We were on a mission, on Umbara. He stepped on a mine," he replies curtly, "I was right next to him."

Anakin winces, a million questions flooding him instantly. Umbara. That place holds so many memories. So many of the boys were lost there, senselessly sent to fight each other. Fives and Jesse were nearly executed there. And Rex was... He did not take anything that happened there well.

Did the 501st here on Umbara face the same thing? Did the Sith do that to them, force them to fight each other? Was Echo blown up because they were intentionally sent walking into a trap? Is... that why Fives seems so hostile towards him? It's probably for certain why Fives has some mechanical parts – Anakin doesn't know how many, but his hand is mechanical.

But the one thing that his mind clings to the most is that Echo was blown up, just like Anakin's reality. "But you didn't see him... gone?" he asks, but he has to know.

"I saw enough," Fives snaps.

Anakin can imagine too well how Fives feels about that. He still remembers the blood, and the – everything as the ship had blown up, taking Echo with it. He's seen people blown up before, even plenty of times on Tatooine, but it wasn't Echo, someone he was close to. "What happened to Echo in my time was... similar, but it was on a different mission. I know where he was being held – I can go there on my own, to... verify it. Unless you would like to come." It would be a probably foolish risk to go there entirely alone, but he can't let this go until he knows.

Doesn't want to think about what it would mean if the Rebellion was working with people who were experimenting on the clones, though.

"Do you really think there's a chance?" Fives asks finally.

"I don't know," Anakin admits, "But I want to try. If there is a chance, I have to take it."

Fives sighs softly. "You're right," he concedes reluctantly, "If there's even a chance Echo's alive, I have to take it. I'll go with you."

"We'll go together," Hunter agrees, "If Cid hasn't found us another mission yet, we still have time."

Good. They need to go together.

"If he's there, I'll need Tech's help, anyway," Anakin replies. "I can't do it myself."

He doesn't want to hope, and he knows he shouldn't, but he can't help it.

**w**

Skako Minor looks identical to how it did in Anakin's reality when they went there to get Echo. He remembers every moment of that mission – he wanted Rex to be right so much, but it felt like wishful thinking. And he didn't want Rex to get hurt on the way, only to uncover nothing. It hadn't been long since Fives died, and they were all still grieving.

Still are grieving, even if it's another buried ache in his heart that he's learned to live with, like he had to with his mother's death. Neither have truly stopped hurting, and he doubts they ever could, but there's nothing he can do except keep moving.

Working alongside this Fives again is bringing back the countless memories of Anakin's version of him though, and it hurts. He wants him back, so much. Maybe this isn't the same Fives, but if he could... be around him, it might help. Maybe.

But he's not going to be in this reality forever, so it would only be like losing him all over again. Thinking about it is pointless though, because he's not going to leave the Rebellion and the Batch isn't going to join – which he entirely understands. Their paths are separate, and if Anakin's going to leave him behind eventually that's probably easier for both of them, but that doesn't stop his longing.

Anakin doesn't know that Echo is here this time, but that doesn't stop him from desperately hoping. Fives deserves to have at least one of his brothers back.

They leave Wrecker and Omega with the ship, and sneak into the Techno Union complex, trying to go unnoticed. It goes better than it did last time – they're able to dodge any droids quickly, or cleanly take down any that they come across, without any alarms sounding.

They aren't expected this time either, so infiltrating all the way to where Echo was being kept last time isn't difficult.

Except... the room is empty. Its set-up is entirely different, too.

"No one's here," Hunter observes, scanning the room.

No. No. He knew he could be wrong, but that doesn't stop the desperation tightening in his chest. "He may be somewhere else. They may have something in their files."

Tech moves to the nearest port, breaking into the Techno Union files, and starts searching through them.

Anakin waits, a part of him still clinging to the hope that Echo's simply elsewhere. But it's not realistic. Not really. He already knows what answer is most likely, but –

Fives feels tense in the Force, and Anakin... really doesn't want to have dragged them all out here for nothing, but most of all, to have given Fives' hope for nothing.

"There is no record of an Echo or CT-1409 in any of their files," Tech finally reports, stepping back.

Nothing.

Echo really is gone.

The disappointment that floods him rapidly spirals into an overwhelming lingering depression, remembering the days he and Fives and Echo were all still together. He just feels lost, suddenly. Like he failed to save Echo again, just like he did at the Citadel, even if he was still alive.

And he couldn't reasonably save him here when Anakin wasn't here in the first place when he was lost, but that knowledge doesn't really help. Doesn't make him feel any less empty.

"I thought there was a chance," he says, numbly, as they try to silently slip back out of the facility.

"It was worth looking, even if we found nothing," Fives replies, though he sounds bitter again. Unsurprising. Whatever happened was bad.

It's not until they're on the way back to their ship that Anakin senses something wrong. He can't place what it is, but there's something...

The Marauder finally comes into view, only for him to see a very familiar Togruta, standing a few paces from the ramp. She's dressed entirely in black, an ignited red lightsaber in each hand. Her eyes are yellow, and she feels so strongly of the Dark Side, as much as she feels like –

Ahsoka.

Force.

Anakin stills, breath freezing in his throat. First Obi-Wan and now Ahsoka. She's a Dark Sider, too. He wondered where this reality's version of Ahsoka was, but he didn't want to think about it, knowing how easily she could be dead. Knowing that she wouldn't know who he is, anyway.

But he never imagined that she was Fallen.

Omega is behind Ahsoka, expression panicked – Anakin can feel fear pouring off her in waves – and Wrecker is lying unconscious a few paces away.

"Surrender," Ahsoka orders, "Or they die."

Anakin freezes instinctively. He thought nothing could be worse than seeing Obi-Wan as a Sith. He thought... it couldn't get worse than that, but somehow, seeing Ahsoka as a Sith is almost worse. If something happened to her, that's his own responsibility. That's not true with Obi-Wan. This isn't his Ahsoka who Fell, but it's still her, and it still feels like it was something he could have helped somehow.

Hunter looks at him, and Anakin can feel his panic. He has no idea what to do. Anakin hardly does, either – if it had been anyone else, it'd be easy, but it's not, because this is Ahsoka.

"Ahsoka –" Anakin starts, but he really has no idea what to say to her. He doesn't know why she's doing this, anything about her, and she doesn't know him either.

"Commander," Fives drawls, stepping forwards, blaster raised, anyway.

Her head turns towards him, and Anakin sees the flicker of recognition on her face. "Fives?"

His heart skips a beat. Ahsoka was the 501st Commander here, too? He wouldn't have guessed that. Fives working for a Dark Sider sounds ludicrous, but everything about this reality is.

"Let her go," Hunter snaps, and none of them are lowering their weapons.

"Put your blasters down," Ahsoka throws back, "Or I'll kill her."

"Step away from her, Ahsoka," Anakin orders. He's not going to draw his lightsaber, but he can just as well stop her with the Force.

Omega is looking at them, wide-eyed and terrified.

Anakin doesn't know how old she is, but she's young, and she doesn't deserve this kind of life. This happened to him on his first mission – a pirate jumped him, and threatened to kill him if Obi-Wan didn't turn his lightsaber over. Anakin intervened with the Force, throwing some rocks at the pirate and escaping on his own. Omega doesn't have that ability.

"Let my sister go," Fives snarls.

"Fives," Ahsoka says, still looking at him as opposed to anyone else, "You can come back. I'll give you a place here."

"Right," Fives scoffs, "Just what I wanted from deserting. A promotion. I might have a duty to the galaxy, but I also have a duty to my brothers, and they always come first."

"Then I suggest you surrender."

Anakin doesn't risk the wait. Ahsoka isn't messing around – she never has been one to do that, so he reaches out before she can react, ripping her lightsabers from her hands with the Force. Ahsoka yelps, stumbling, and Anakin Force-shoves her back against the Marauder before she can pull another weapon – he's fairly certain she has one.

Anakin walks towards her, holding her blades, still tense and poised for attack.

Ahsoka stands, growling, lashing out with the Force to throw him back. Anakin shields it easily enough, and she lashes out towards the clones. She's going to try to kill them.

Omega's run to Hunter while Ahsoka's distracted, and she starts reaching out, a millisecond from trying to Force-choke him.

"Ahsoka, stop!" Anakin yells, extinguishing her blades and grabbing her wrist.

"How do you even know me?!" she shouts back. "I don't even know who you are!" She jerks against him, trying to pull away, to shove him back, but she's still tiny.

"I'm your master," Anakin says, shoving her against the ship, trying to block her escape.

"I don't know you!" Ahsoka screams, trying to kick him, "And I never had a master!"

"It was a different you. Another time, but still you."

"What are you talking about?" Ahsoka asks, finally stopping long enough to look up at him.

"I'm not from this place. I'm from somewhere else. I'm sure you've heard of me since you came here. How did you come here?"

"I'm hunting Jedi," she hisses, "And apparently, some deserters."

"What for?" Fives queries, approaching, though he still has his blaster out. "To kill us, like you killed Rex?"

What?

Anakin's head whips around to look at him, wide-eyed, because that's not something he can even begin to wrap his mind around.

Ahsoka shoves Anakin back with a yell of fury, lunging at Fives.

He fires, and the shot that hits her is a stun bolt. Ahsoka yelps ungracefully, crashing to her knees.

She's glaring, though mostly unconscious, and Fives holsters his blaster again, approaching her. "I couldn't forget what you did to him any more than what you meant to him."

She's still glowering. It would be adorable if it didn't break his heart so much.

Rex is – Rex is dead? Anakin wondered, but he never thought... He never thought he was dead. He can feel Fives' hurt, his anger, his grief – whatever happened, he blames Ahsoka for it. Anakin wants to think it wasn't her fault. He doesn't know how it could be, but he doesn't know what happened. He wasn't with them, like he should have been.

Anakin clips Ahsoka's lightsabers to his belt, hesitantly walking towards her, gripping her shoulder.

She slumps a little, defeatedly, golden eyes blinking, and for a moment, Anakin is afraid she'll lose consciousness. His Ahsoka would have, and no doubt, she's only staying awake through pure spite. She is a Sith. They're a lot harder to take down.

"Ahsoka," Anakin requests, circling around her and crouching. She's afraid. He can feel it. "It's okay," he soothes, "We're not going to hurt you."

He doesn't think she believes him, and he can't help wondering if she's been hurt before. That's not something he wants to think about, though.

"How do you know her?" Anakin asks, looking back up at Fives as Ahsoka slumps a little farther in his grip. She's most unconscious, too out-of-it to have a conversation.

"She was my commander," he answers shortly, "Before the 501st was wiped out."

They – oh, Force. They're gone. Those are his men. How could they be dead?

They weren't really his though, were they?

"She was my padawan," Anakin murmurs, "She was your commander in my time, too. You never knew each other very well, but you never fought. She was... She was our child. It's like what Omega is now, just she's... older. And she was your commander. I don't understand how this could be different."

"Everything in your time was different," Fives replies. He sounds bitter.

She's still Ahsoka, even if she's Dark. He doesn't care. As long as she's here, he'll help her. Anakin has never given up on her, no matter what the Jedi and everyone has said about her. Ahsoka is not someone he's willing to compromise on, not for anyone, for anything.

"Omega, are you okay?" Hunter queries.

"Yeah," she says, still sounding a little breathless, "Who is that?"

"Imperial Inquisitor," Fives answers, "And Commander."

Tech is approaching Wrecker, who's slowly waking up. Anakin can't help thinking it's a good thing they already got his chip out, or they could have a problem in that regard right now.

Omega casts a worried glance towards Ahsoka before moving to Wrecker herself, and Hunter and Fives follow.

They could've been killed. Easily. And if Anakin wasn't with them, this probably wouldn't have happened.

"My presence is endangering you," Anakin tells them, "I best leave."

"Do we know how she found us?" Hunter queries.

"The Empire's probably been tracking me ever since I came here," Anakin points out. "I've drawn a bit of attention."

"What was that?" Wrecker asks, pushing himself upright.

"Someone we don't want to see again," Tech supplies.

"Are you okay?" Hunter asks.

Wrecker rubs his head, picking up his helmet. "She was gonna hurt the kid."

Anakin winces. This is Ahsoka. She hated hurting people. Did it all the time, got used to it, but she still hated it, just like him. How could she become this?

Who hurt her, to make her reach this point? Maybe it's not very Jedi-like, but Anakin wants nothing more than to kill everyone responsible for this.

"I had best take her elsewhere," he replies, "I'm not letting her back to the Empire, and we can't stay here." He'll be leaving, basically, and that hurts a little. He thought he'd have more time, but he's going back to where he's needed. Ahsoka's wellbeing always comes first, and he needs to talk to her at a time where no one else will be caught in the crossfire.

"I'm not sure you have that anywhere," Fives objects, "I know her. You can't reason with her."

"I need to know how she was able to find us," Anakin says, "And I'm not letting the Empire hurt her anymore."

"If the Empire knows you were working with us, we'll need to lay low," Hunter points out, "They'll be after us."

"Yes, they will," Anakin agrees, "I guess this is goodbye."

"Do you have to go?" Omega asks, looking disappointed.

"I'm sorry, little one," Anakin tells her, "I do. I have other places to be. I'm fighting the Empire, and you're not. I'm sure we'll see each other again, but our paths aren't the same."

From there, Anakin needs to know more about this-Ahsoka's life. He needs to know what to prepare for. "Can you tell me a bit about her?" he asks, "I knew her, but she wasn't... the same. I don't understand what happened to make her like this, and I don't think she'll want to tell me. If – if you're alright talking about it?"

Fives sighs. "She wasn't always a bad commander," he admits, "But she was... young. Inexperienced. She didn't know how to fight."

"That was true for me, too," Anakin confesses, "But she learned fast."

"She never had anyone to teach her," Fives murmurs, "She was... arrogant. Rex tried to teach her, but she wouldn't listen."

Anakin sighs, closing his eyes. This is familiar. Ahsoka did struggle with listening. She never had an easy time with it. That's something everyone in their lineage has struggled with. If it's been passed on, or that masters have the misfortune of picking the worst padawans, Anakin has no idea. "And it worked, until she made a mistake she couldn't fix," he guesses.

"Rex told her not to do it," Fives replies, and Anakin can feel the rage and grief swirling around him, "But she did it, anyway, too afraid of failing. She led us right into a minefield, and we were cut off in every direction."

That happened on Umbara, he'd said. Similar to what happened to the 501st Anakin knew, only somehow, far worse.

"I'm sorry," Anakin offers finally because he doesn't know what else to say.

"There weren't enough of us left to be a battalion anymore," Fives goes on, after a pause, "I joined Clone Force 99 after I... recovered." So he'd guessed, but it makes him feel sick thinking about it. Rex is gone. Echo is too. All of his boys here are, except Fives.

Ahsoka might have made the mistake that led to it, but that doesn't mean he would ever blame her for it. She never had anyone take care of her here. He can't imagine losing all of her men was something she'd take very well, even in this universe. Maybe he can't do anything more for the Batch, but at least he can help her, whatever it takes.

"I'll... handle her," he assures, "You will not need to worry about her coming after you anymore." Or hopefully anyone once they've separated. "I'll call someone to come pick me up. It's best if no one can track me back to Ord Mantell." Like if Ahsoka wakes up and realizes where they are, because as much as it hurts, they can't trust her right now.

"Will we see you again?" Omega asks, hopefully.

He doesn't know how they'd cross paths again, but something tells him they will. "Perhaps, eventually."

He should probably make sure the others are available to pick him up first. He dials Ventress' comm, and she picks up almost immediately. "What's up, Skykid?" she chirps.

"Are you available to give me a ride?"

"What, did your new friends throw you out an airlock?"

"I don't think advertising where I need to go is advisable," he replies, "And I'm attracting trouble out here."

"Give me your coordinates. I should be free to drop by and save your skin."

He huffs out a sigh of relief. "Alright. And you should know that I'm not alone. You may not want to come by yourself." He hates the thought of acting like Ahsoka's dangerous, but he has to be realistic, especially if he's taking her back to the rebel base with him.

"You mean you picked up an exciting new friend or a prisoner?"

"... Both. It's complicated."

"Hmm, okay. I'll be on my way." She disconnects the call, and Anakin turns back to the Batch, who are standing near the ramp of the ship.

"Good luck," he tells them. "Stay out of trouble. And... if you ever need my help with something, you know how to contact me."

"We will," Hunter replies, "And thanks for the help."

They linger a few moments longer, before they move for the ship. Fives is the last one on board, watching Anakin from the doorway for a moment before the ship takes off.

It hurts to see him go, not knowing when Anakin will see him again. Not knowing what could happen to him while they're separate, even if they're probably safer apart right now.

Anakin's hand lingers on Ahsoka's shoulder as he waits for Ventress to get here and for her to wake up. When she does, it's... going to be a long conversation.

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