Chapter 12 - Fives

Author's Note: Would've been so nice for Disney to be considerate enough to release the third Bad Batch season earlier, but well. I had to write this based on guesses since idk what happens about Tantiss. ^-^ But. I figured Kamino's destruction might've been slightly later, since not everything in the galaxy was at the same place it was in the future, AKA in Canon.

~ Rivana Rita

It's been five years since the Empire formed.

Anakin's twenty-three now. That's still hard to believe. Oh, and married, because he and Kolara thought that was a perfectly okay thing to do on the run from the Empire. I mean, why not? They can't stop living their lives, just because they're on the run like this.

It feels more like they're chasing, sometimes.

Anakin named the ship Twilight in memory of the one he lost so, so long ago. He and Rex picked up Kolara not long after the excursion on Bracca. The Empire came to her planet, and it... They were virtually destroying it. Carnelion IV refused to give in – they were former Separatists, and willing to fight to the death to maintain their beliefs.

Kolara ordered her supporters to evacuate. It killed her to do it, but hey, didn't have a choice. If they fled, they could reorganize, and they'd be able to fight.

She's still bitter about it, but here, she has hope. They all have hope, and they live by it.

Anakin picked up Cody almost by accident, but he couldn't be happier to have him here, and they've gotten far closer than they ever were during the war.

Artoo stays with them most of the time now.

Rafa and Trace are still running missions here and there, though Rafa prefers to keep them out of trouble. For the most part, they work from their base on Jabi'im.

And... Echo is the last member of their little crew. Anakin is grateful to have him here, though he still feels a little bad for taking him from his brothers, his squad. They've settled down now, on a planet called Pabu, and they seem happy there. He can't say they're unreasonably restless – because he would be, too, if he tried to settle down – but they still here, and Rex calls them in every now and then. It's not something they like doing, but the Batch seems to prefer it to constantly idling.

Something's been... nagging at him lately. It's not the restlessness of being away from Obi-Wan so long – that faded long ago, even if it still hurts sometimes. It's something far more significant, though for some reason, his mind keeps wandering back to his former master. Anakin doesn't want to hope that means he'll see him again. He doesn't want to hope for that. That could mean something bad as much as good.

Anakin can't say when it is that he just knows, but he moves up to the cockpit to see Echo glaring at the control panel like it just personally offended him. "This doesn't make any sense!" he says fiercely before Anakin can get a word out. "I know this frequency."

"What's wrong?" Anakin asks, "Who is it?"

Rex appears behind him, takes one look at the dashboard and just freezes.

Anakin looks at it himself, blinks at it, then blinks again, but nothing changes. No, he's not hallucinating. Hopefully. Maybe. No, he doesn't want to hope.

Fives died six years ago. It's just... that someone else wound up with the same comm frequency means nothing. Nothing – it can't – he's gone.

What if he's not?

Anakin had wanted to ask Rex that. Didn't dare to. He's glad he didn't, but now, somehow – he mourned Echo once, and thought he'd never see him again. How can he truly know the same isn't happening now?

"It's just coordinates," Echo says, "But I don't know what that means."

"The question is how – whoever this is was able to send us a message," Anakin comments, stepping back and crossing his arms. "It could be a trap."

"I don't like this," Rex declares firmly.

Echo is still glowering. Anakin doesn't blame him.

He can't even say how much he missed Fives. None of them can. He was a part of them, all of them except Kolara, and then he was just... gone.

"What's wrong?" Kolara asks, surfacing in the doorway.

Anakin slumps against the wall, arms crossed. "We got a message on the... channel of someone who died a long time ago. Which doesn't make any sense. It's..." Important, the Force whispers, but that's lost over the screaming in Anakin's own mind. He has wanted to believe that so badly. He wants to drop everything and go there, to see if it means anything, if – and Anakin can't endanger them like this. What if it's nothing? What if the Empire finally caught up to them, is using this as a way to get through to them?

How do they know that it's really Fives, not... it could be anyone. It's not like they know what happened to his comm. That it's his means nothing.

"Then it sounds like we better go," Kolara says determinedly, "Maybe it's nothing, but we have to see. Anakin, you've taken risks for all of us. I know what this means to you. To Echo and Rex. If there's even a chance that it's real, I'd say that's a risk we have to take."

She's right.

She's always right.

Anakin needs her here, her... approval and agreement when he's uncertain of something himself. "I can't guarantee anything," he admits, "But we might as well set course."

**w**

It's a forest planet. It's... it doesn't look foreboding, but Anakin has a very, very bad feeling about it the moment he sees it. He senses the danger, burning through every inch of him, in the back of his mind, whispering in warning.

This is a very, very dangerous place, and it is most definitely a trap, but Anakin wouldn't be Anakin if he didn't spring it, anyhow.

He angles their ship downwards towards the coordinates. It's not a – he doesn't like this. It's too calm. Too wrong. Too – he doesn't know if it's intentional or not, and Anakin loathes the thought of leading his entire family – what's left of it – into something like this.

Doesn't want to risk them dying, but they have to come here. It's important. Anakin can feel it in the Force, and he doesn't know what it means.

Still, he's jittery enough that even landing the ship feels wrong. They have no idea what they're walking into, what it even means.

"Artoo, scan for life forms," Anakin requests as he puts the Twilight down amidst the trees.

He and Rex move for the door first, the others crowding behind.

"We'll have to see if there's even anything in the area," Rex says, "There's not much to see from the atmosphere."

They move forwards through the trees. His senses are so high on danger that it's hard to feel anything clearly, but there's definitely some crashing around. Could be a wild animal. Could be worse.

"Do you hear that?" Echo asks finally, pausing. It's getting louder.

"Yeah," Kolara agrees, "And I don't like it."

Anakin freezes, motioning for the others to stop. He senses something close. Familiar.

Something he's sensed before, and there's... another presence, too, and that's the one he's looking for. A distance out, faint, but still there. The familiar intensity, the steadfast loyalty that he was so terrified of losing. That they did lose.

"Fives," Anakin breathes.

"Is it him?" Echo asks, voice strained.

Anakin doesn't have another moment's notice before he senses danger. He whirls around, Force-shoving them back and diving aside as an explosion rips through the forest, bringing a few trees crashing down towards them. He catches them with the Force, shoving them aside and drawing his lightsaber as a black-armored figure drops down at him.

An Inquisitor. He's fought those before, though this one is different. He knows her.

She's small, far shorter than he is. The helmet covering her head is pointed – it's like a Togruta. But she's still so small.

Anakin slashes his lightsaber at her while stepping back, shoving her blade to the side. She stumbles, regaining her footing and jumping at him again with a snarl.

"Who are you?" he demands. This is definitely a trap, but there's still – a presence here. Someone. He doesn't want to think it's really Fives. Doesn't want to count on it. "And what did you do with Fives? How do you know about him?"

"You'd be amazed how much you notice if you actually paid attention!" she snarls, slashing at him again. It sounds... personal, but he doesn't know her. He's never known any Force-sensitive Togruta younglings. Except –

There was one. Master Plo's padawan. He was barely introduced to her before Mandalore.

Their blades collide several more times, and he sees Rex raising his blaster, preparing to fire.

"What did you do with our friend?" Anakin demands again. He doesn't know if that's who she is, but what matters right now is Fives. If he's alive. If he's there.

Rex fires, and she yelps, ducking back. She's panting a little, shifting her grip on her lightsaber.

The Togruta hisses at them. The vocoder distorts her voice, but she doesn't sound very old. The Inquisitor jumps over his head towards the clones, who back up, firing at her. She deflects their shots, one glancing off Rex's shoulder, and Anakin Force-shoves her.

The Inquisitor lands awkwardly, skidding across the ground and stumbling to her feet.

"Tell us what you did with Fives," Echo orders fiercely, blaster raised towards her.

Anakin rips her lightsaber away with the Force, the blade landing in his hands.

"You don't know what you're walking into," Kolara warns, circling around behind her. "I'd suggest standing down."

She sidesteps, growling low in her throat, before unexpectedly throwing her hands out and shoving. It was so random, so unexpected, she successfully flings Anakin back into the nearby tree.

His head slams against the wood, stars dancing in his vision as he struggles to stay conscious. Something red and out of sight is blinking in the woods where he couldn't see a moment ago.

Explosives.

"Run," Anakin yells to the others, head spinning as he struggles to make it to his feet. His head is swimming, but he's still used to this, trained for this, and he reaches outwards, begging that his family make it to safety.

The Inquisitor dives aside as an explosion rips through the clearing, and everything blacks out.

**w**

Consciousness fades back in slowly.

Anakin's head is throbbing. He pushes himself upright, though the world tilts around him dangerously and everything is blurry. Concussion, probably. Ugh. He doesn't have time to worry about that right now.

He got knocked out by an explosion. That's – okay, it happens, but it's still pathetic.

His comm beeps, and Anakin answers it shakily. "Anakin here," he rasps.

"Anakin!" It's Kolara, and he can't remember the last time he heard her so relieved. "The Inquisitor's MIA, but we found Fives, and we're on the way to the ship. Could use some back up, though. There's Imperials forces everywhere here."

Oh, Force. Not right now. He's really, really not up to a fight. "Hang on," he says, anyway, stumbling to his feet and nearly falling, "I'll be right there."

He lets the Force carry him, and that's really the best he can do. Anakin fights with the Force instead of his lightsaber, shoving anyone nearby away until Cody and Artoo fly the ship overhead, and they jump aboard.

Anakin nearly goes on his face. Rex grabs his arm to haul him upright. The lights in the ship are making his head throb even worse, and they stumble inside. Rex drops him in one of the seats before they angle upwards. Anakin tilts his head back, closing his eyes and trying to breathe.

"Are you okay?" Anakin asks after a few minutes of just breathing. He hears the ship engine running, heading upwards.

"You're the one with a nearly cracked skull," Kolara replies, "Are you?"

He rubs his head, wincing. "I'll be fine, but did you..."

"They were using him to lure us into a trap," Rex replies, squeezing Anakin's shoulder. "He's a little... out of it, but he's here."

Anakin lets out a soft sigh of relief. "Thank you. It looks like we pulled it off."

Artoo beeps his agreement.

They lapse into a few minutes of silence before Anakin finally speaks again. "How is he? What..."

"We don't know anything yet," Cody tells him. One glance around says Echo's in the back with Fives. "He was mostly unconscious when we got there."

"None of it makes sense," Rex adds, "I was there when he died. I saw it, but this is him, and I know he recognized me."

"Can I see him?" Anakin asks.

Rex glances at Cody worriedly, but helps him upright, anyway. Anakin crashes into his side in a way that nearly sends them both over, and its frankly remarkable Rex managed to stay upright. They still make it to the back on their feet, though.

His heart is hammering. This is Fives. He's here, alive, and it never felt real until Anakin actually saw him. But here he is, right in front of him.

"Fives," Anakin breathes, stumbling forwards.

He blinks at him, a little hazily, but there. "Commander."

Anakin hasn't been called that in a long time. "I'm here." Anakin steps forwards, kneeling in front of him, reaching for his shoulder. He's dressed... differently, and it looks weird and wrong on him. He must've been imprisoned somewhere. Just like Echo. He inhales deeply, blinking back tears. "I came back. I – I'm sorry you weren't there to see." If he had months earlier, maybe he could've... changed something.

"This – this is something you need to know," Fives tells him. There's a surprising amount of clarity in his eyes despite how Anakin can feel his exhaustion. "What they've done – what they're doing –"

Echo throws a worried glance at Anakin, which he returns.

"What who's doing?" Anakin asks, shaking his shoulder a little.

"I knew you'd help," he continues, still staring, "You always do."

Anakin blinks a few times, inhaling shakily. A stray tear drips down his cheek. "Except when you need me."

"They're – they're hurting us," Fives continues intently, "We're their perfect lab rats."

Anakin flinches. He doesn't know what he's talking about, exactly, but it isn't as though the Empire experimenting on people – on clones – is exactly entirely unheard of. It's just rumors, though. Has been ever since Kamino's mysterious destruction about four years ago. "The Empire?"

"What else?"

"I suggest you get some rest," Rex interjects, moving closer to Fives, "It's been a while. We'll have time to catch up later."

"It's a trap," Fives insists nonsensically, "It always..." He blinks a few times, trailing off, and Anakin winces.

"Let him rest," Anakin requests finally. "We'll catch up later."

He stays, anyway, until Fives finally falls asleep, and Rex insists Anakin stay. He does, albeit unwillingly, and exhaustion finally overtakes him.

**w**

"Anakin!" He has a split second of warning before a familiar blonde-haired clone practically tackles him.

"Didn't expect to see you here," he wheezes, wrapping his arms around Omega and squeezing her tightly.

Wrecker scoops Echo up behind him, ignoring his yelps.

Anakin looks over Omega's head to the other three normal-sized and semi-reasonable Batchers. They're not that young anymore, but they still have the look, and they definitely have the chaos.

"We heard about Fives," Hunter says, stepping forwards, "We wanted to see how you were handling it."

Omega steps back from Anakin, running to Echo. She's seventeen now, and fully grown. It's still strange to see. Her hair's halfway down her back in a tangled mess of blonde curls, and she still has her bow, even if she has a blaster, too, now. Anakin's never seen her use it.

"It could be better," Rex replies, "We still don't know what happened to him or where he's been."

Anakin senses something twinging in the Force, and Omega's expression tightens the same moment – she's gotten far more entuned with the Force herself with her age. "Something's wrong," she starts saying, right before Anakin's comm beeps.

"Anakin, we've got Imperial forces in the sector." It's Trace, and she sounds scared. She basically grew up fighting – she was about thirteen when Anakin met her, and everything with her life has just gotten increasingly chaotic since. "They must've tracked us somehow."

"It's a trap," Fives had told them, and Anakin had thought he wasn't in his right mind, but suddenly, he has the sinking feeling otherwise.

"The Empire must've tracked our ship," he realizes, "They used this as a way to find our base. Trace, sound the alarms. We have to be ready to fight."

"Realistically, we won't have a chance," Rex objects, "We aren't ready for a full-on fight with the Empire yet."

"He's right," Kolara concurs, "We don't have the resources. There are too many people here who need us. Our help and protection. We have to evacuate."

"We do both," Anakin replies determinedly, "Hunter, since you're here, can you help oversee the evacuation?"

He nods. "If you need us up front, give us the word," he requests.

Anakin nods back.

This is where the fun begins.

This is the only chance they have of survival – at proving the Empire can be beaten, and he will not let it fail. Everything depends on it.

**w**

They set up barriers, everything to stall for time. After leaving Jabi'im, they have nowhere to go, and Anakin doesn't look forwards to it, but he's good at focusing.

The leader of the attack is the same Inquisitor he fought on the forest planet. And now that Anakin focuses, he knows how familiar her presence is. He'd been so caught in finding Fives, that he never really thought about her, or who she is.

It's her. Ahsoka Tano, that padawan he saw so briefly. Her master is probably dead now, and he can't imagine how she must feel about it. He probably won't be able to get through to her, but he has to try. She's still in her teens. She doesn't deserve this kind of life.

The initial fighting is brief before they fall back, closing off the door. Anakin approaches it alone, ordering the others to fall back. This is something he needs to do. If Ahsoka's a former Jedi, they'll be able to see eye-to-eye on some things.

"Ahsoka, we need to talk," he calls through the door.

"Do we?" comes the snarky reply.

"Stop and think about what you're doing," Anakin says gently but firmly. He can feel the rage in her, the way she wants to rip everything apart just because she's hurting. "You're becoming exactly what you're trying to destroy."

"He killed everyone I ever knew. My friends. The only family I ever had."

Anakin doesn't know who he is, but it's not something he needs to worry about. Ahsoka is his focus, and Anakin needs to try to get her to stand down. She's angry and hurt, and she's been brainwashed into this. It's not her fault.

"You still have a choice, Ahsoka. You still survived, and you can still choose to live in their memories. In your masters. I knew Master Plo. He would have wanted better for you."

"You never lost anyone in it. To him. You don't understand," she hisses, "He never did that to you."

"Who is he?" Anakin asks.

The sound she makes is somewhere between a snarl and a hiss. "Obi-Wan Kenobi. Your master. The Emperor's little pet."

Anakin closes his eyes, breathing in shakily. There's so much about this that he doesn't want to think about, even if he's always known. Maul told him, and Anakin didn't want to believe it –

"Your vision is flawed."

– but he knew the truth deep inside. Maul was right, and Anakin knew that from when he sensed the darkness shortly after, no matter how deeply it guts him.

His master turned to the Dark Side, and Anakin has no idea how he missed it, how he let that happen. How he didn't stop it.

Ahsoka is trying to kill Obi-Wan, like Maul was years ago, but this time, he can understand it. He – he could with Maul, too, but he'd been so blinded by his hurt and rage, he didn't have the sense to think about it.

"If you mean to destroy him, why are you serving him?" Anakin asks.

"I'm not!" Ahsoka spits back, "I'll get close enough that he wouldn't expect, and I'll kill him."

Anakin's gut flips unpleasantly. "He's too strong. You'll die."

"Then I'll die trying!"

"I know what it's like to feel alone," Anakin replies, trying to sound soothing. It's hard to stay level-headed, but he doesn't want his master to kill anyone else, and he doesn't want Ahsoka to die trying. "I was, too. But no vengeance can bring back the lives of those who were lost to the Empire. You know what it's done, what you've been made to do. It's not too late to let it go."

"You were supposed to help them!" Ahsoka yells. "They said you were the Chosen One, that you were supposed to help us!"

It wasn't his fault, and Anakin might tell himself that every single day, but it still feels like it was. That there's something he should've done about it. "You're right," he replies, "I should have, but I didn't. There were many things we all could've chosen, but we are where we are, and somehow, we'll have to find a way to live with this."

"You never lost your master," she snarls, "You wouldn't know."

"What would you call this?" Anakin queries. "Forever dying while he's still here?"

"What does that mean?" Ahsoka growls.

"My master embraced the Dark Side. Turned on the Order, on what we fought for." He tries not to think about that too hard, but the gutting emotions of it are threatening to crash over him. He wants to cry. To scream. To – something. Anything, except standing here and talking, but this is where Anakin is needed right now. In the front, defending, because that's where he always is. What he always does.

"You're right that I didn't stand there, watch him die," Anakin continues, "But he's –" He inhales deeply, struggling to stay calm.

His master is a Sith. That's what he's been most afraid of. That's what – Force, how did they fall this far? He knows everything he does from his master. Is there something wrong with him, too? Anakin has broken the Code, though he's not technically a Jedi anymore. He'll ask those questions later, though.

He needs – needs answers. To know how this happened. How everything came to this.

"No matter what he's done, Obi-Wan is still my master. He still raised me. He cared for me. He stood by me when I had no one. You're right I can't understand. I can't imagine him having fallen to this level. When I knew him, he would do anything in the name of justice, but I never knew it meant standing with the Empire."

"How can you care about him?" Ahsoka demands. He thinks there's a hint of vulnerability in her voice now. "He's a monster."

"If you found your master survived, what would you do?" Anakin queries. "If he was fighting against the Empire, and was willing to do whatever he had to, to destroy it?"

"I don't care about the Empire. I just want justice."

"Even if he's changed, our past remains the same. As does yours."

"I'm not weak," Ahsoka snarls, "I'll destroy him! I won't stop until I do."

"Ahsoka," Anakin says firmly, "Stop. Stop and think about what you're doing."

"I've thought enough already!"

She's young, and stubborn, and it's showing, but Anakin can't let her die, no matter how much easier that would be. "By hurting these people, by fighting them, you're turning on what the Jedi stood for. On what your master died for."

"Shut up!" Ahsoka yells.

"I know what this means to you, but I cannot let you go through with it."

"You can't stop me." She sounds sullen.

"No, I can't," Anakin admits, "But you deserve to live a life based on more than an endless pursuit of vengeance. Maybe you will succeed, someday, but you are young. You have a chance at life. That's what your master would have wanted. He would have died for you if it meant you could live. Maybe he never had the chance. Maybe he never had to sacrifice himself for you, but he could have. You are the last in his lineage. His legacy. The one who will carry on his memory."

"My memory is nothing but war and death," Ahsoka throws back, "It always has been."

"But you can still be more than that," Anakin points out, "Because he was more than that. By driving yourself like this, you're giving the Sith, and – and Obi-Wan –" Anakin nearly chokes over his name, but he keeps talking, anyway. "– The win they want. They want you lost. If you really want to destroy them, you can do that by not fighting. No one has to get hurt here, Ahsoka."

"People are already hurt," she snaps, "Because of him. We can destroy him together."

"I won't let you," Anakin replies, "And I won't hurt him."

"You're weak."

"Love makes you stronger."

"You're deluding yourself," Ahsoka snaps, her lightsaber slashing through the door. "Until you're strong enough to kill him, you'll never have hope of winning!"

Anakin tries not to let that affect him as much as it does. It shouldn't. It's just – Ahsoka doesn't understand, and she's angry, but Anakin is still afraid of seeing his master again. It's wrong. He shouldn't be. All he'd ever wanted was to see Obi-Wan again. He shouldn't fear it. Anakin misses him, but they are, for all intents and purposes, fighting each other.

He doesn't know what that will mean once they see each other again.

Final Notes: Reviews are always appreciated! ^-^

Come hang out on Discord (delete spaces), discord . gg / nqSxuz2 or find us on tumblr at fanfictasia (our more serious blog which does have controversial posts on it; I won't be offended if you choose to block it, promise), and disastertriowriting (which is our fun blog with crack posts or incorrect SW quotes)

We've got a YT channel for tributes! (delete the spaces) youtube channel / UC_g1M5rSCxJUzQCRS29B6pA

ALSO: We have SW gift request forms for General, Anakin-Clones-centric, and Bad Batch fics. :D (delete spaces) bit . ly / CourtesyTrefflinFicRequests