Hevy isn't a big fan of waiting. He's a man of action. The inability to do anything bothers him more than he likes to admit. Especially now, when Fives and Cutup are unconscious in the medbay, still struggling against the effects of the virus and still in quarantine.

It's been three days. Hevy's so impatient that the slightest touch from any brother makes him flinch.

Echo is much better at waiting than Hevy is. The ARC bears everything stoically, going about his business with just a hint of tension in his actions to show for how worried he is. Hevy, on the other hand, paces every opportunity he gets, when Del isn't putting him to work to get his mind off of his teammates.

Droidbait… well.

Droidbait is furious.

Their teammate doesn't get angry very often. He's stuck with two ARCs, a prankster, and a heavy gunner for teammates. With such volatile squadmates, he's scarily proficient at keeping his cool through all sorts of schemes.

This time, a line has been crossed, and Droidbait practically radiates rage. He's barely spoken to Echo since Fives went after Cutup, and he hasn't really spoken to Hevy, either. The rest of Beta squad doesn't entirely understand what's going on, but they're more than willing to accommodate Droidbait, who's avoiding Domino and is rarely seen without either Attie or Nax at his side.

Hevy understands what his brother is feeling. They've been betrayed. Cutup and Fives are still in critical condition until they wake. If the ARCs had revealed what they had known in the first place, perhaps none of this would have happened.

That being said, Hevy isn't as upset about the whole thing as Droidbait is. Sure, he's worried for his brothers, but the righteous anger Droidbait has summoned seems pointless in the long run. His initial annoyance at the ARCs had wore off once Fives and Cutup had been brought back to the Resolute. As damaging as it had been to withhold important information, Hevy trusts his brothers. There had to have been a reason for it. He doesn't know what it is, but he does know one thing—if Droidbait's fury continues unchecked, it will tear Domino apart. Echo is already battling a great deal of guilt, and Droidbait's refusal to speak to him is only making things worse.

Hevy has to do something.

He finishes a patrol shift through the ship's main reactor and returns to the barracks to find that Droidbait is getting ready to leave on a shift of his own with Attie, Zeer, and Del. Echo is nowhere to be found—probably getting in extra training—and Nax is napping in his bunk, the grease streaks on his face indicators of the double shift he'd pulled earlier.

Hevy makes a quick decision.

"Droidbait," he says, marching in and grabbing his brother's arm. "We need to talk. Give me a few minutes?"

Droidbait doesn't quite recoil from him, but it's a close thing. Hevy hasn't betrayed him, not like the ARCs have, but in Domino's most recent arguments, Hevy had generally been against Droidbait. Cutup was the one to normally take Droidbait's side.

"I'm on duty in five," Droidbait tells him firmly. His eyes are dark. "Can we do this later?"

Hevy glances up and blinks in surprise to see that Attie and Zeer have tensed. Zeer has his helmet on, but Attie doesn't, yet, so Hevy can see that his narrowed gaze is aimed right at Hevy.

They're protecting Droidbait, and Hevy's heart sinks. Has Droidbait's faith in them truly been shaken so much that the rest of Beta thinks he needs to be protected from Domino?

All of Beta squad will be torn apart at this rate. Hevy has to do something before the damage becomes irreparable. The fact that Droidbait hasn't actually pulled away from Hevy's grip is a good sign. He takes a deep breath and makes a decision.

"No, I don't think it can wait," he says, and the words come out calmer than he'd known they could. "We need to talk, as soon as possible."

Droidbait exhales harshly. "Hevy, I can't just—"

"We'll manage without you for a few minutes," Del says. The Sergeant shoots Hevy a knowing look. "It might be for the best that this gets sorted out now." Del knows as well as the rest of them there are dozens of issues at play here that could potentially destroy the squad's efficiency. His calling them out is enough to get Droidbait to slump in acceptance.

"Fine," Hevy's batchmate says bitterly. "Let's talk."

Attie takes a step forwards. "You sure, DB?" he asks quickly. "You don't have to—"

"No, Hevy's right. This needs to be resolved," Droidbait says. He finally pulls his arm out of Hevy's grasp and spins on his heel, heading for the door. Hevy can do nothing but trail after him, hoping fervently that he'll know what to say to cool his brother down.

Droidbait leads him to the little conference room Domino had used as a meeting place several weeks earlier. The door slides shut behind them, and for a moment a long, awkward silence ensues. Neither of them sit at the table. Droidbait leans against the wall, eyes narrowed, and Hevy shifts his weight between his feet nervously. Finally, he licks his lips and opens his mouth.

"Droidbait—"

"I already know what you're going to say, Hevy," Droidbait bursts out. "But you know what, the ARCs were wrong. They were wrong not to tell us what was going on. I don't care what Echo thinks. Withholding information like that to spare our feelings of all things isn't justifiable. This is a war, for Force's sake, and we were bred for it. They might have thought it to be for the best, but how the kriff are we supposed to save the galaxy if they won't even trust us with the most basic details—?"

"Droidbait, I wasn't going to try to convince you that they were right," Hevy interrupts. Droidbait stops, staring at him suspiciously. Hevy takes a deep breath.

Kriff, this is hard. Hevy's not meant for this. He's more of a shoot-first-ask-questions-later kind of clone. Words have never been his strong point, but he has to try, for the sake of his brothers.

"Listen, you're right," Hevy tells Droidbait placatingly. "You're completely right. They should have trusted us, even though it would have hurt. It hurts more now than it would have then."

Droidbait starts to relax, just a little bit.

"Of course, I would have wanted to try something to spare our brothers," Droidbait continues to argue. "Of course I would have wanted to. How could I have not? But I wouldn't have done anything. Even though I don't like it, we can't risk changing anything so soon. I know that, and so does Cutup. So why didn't they trust us? It was selfish of them not to tell us, and dangerous, too."

"I agree," Hevy concurs, and he watches Droidbait relax even further, now that he's aware he won't have to defend himself. "We have every right to be angry at them. This isn't something that we can allow to be repeated."

Droidbait nods gratefully, glad to have someone else share his views. Then he frowns and arches an eyebrow.

"You wouldn't have pulled me aside just to tell me you agree with me," he points out.

"You're right," Hevy admits. "Hear me out before you say anything, okay?"

Droidbait crosses his arms and waits for Hevy to continue. Hevy takes a step closer to him, silently imploring his ordinarily rational brother to listen to reason.

"As justified as being angry is right now… we can't afford to be," Hevy begins. "There's a lot at stake. I know you know this. If we let something like this drive the squad apart, we won't be able to get anything done, much less save the Republic."

"They should have—"

"There's a lot they should have done, brother. Listen to me. They may be ARCs, but they're humans, too. They make mistakes. They let their emotions get in the way of the mission. The whole reason they didn't tell us everything in the first place was that so we wouldn't have to go through the pain they did the first time around. They did it because they care for us, 'Bait."

"That doesn't make it right."

"No, it doesn't. But their intentions were good, even if nothing else was. They made a mistake. I don't think they'll make it again."

Droidbait is quiet for a few seconds, considering. Eventually he sighs and looks at the floor.

"So, what, you're saying we should just forget this happened? It wasn't anyone's fault that Cutup got recruited. That's not the issue. The problem is that they didn't trust that we could handle the truth!"

"I know!" Hevy snaps out. "I know, Droidbait." He has to take a moment to calm himself down. It's almost instinct to get frustrated, but he knows that'll only make things worse. "I think they know, too. If you'd been paying attention you'd have seen that Echo's barely eaten since Fives left. He doesn't talk to either of us. He's so guilty he can barely function, Droidbait. They know they've messed up. It won't happen again. I'm confident in that."

Finally, finally, Droidbait's expression softens.

"You're right," he admits. "But I won't forget this."

"None of us will," Hevy says solemnly. "We don't need to forget to continue working as a team, though. We only need to forgive."

Droidbait stares at him for a long moment. Eventually, a tiny grin plays across his face. "Is that really you, Hevy?" he asks suddenly. "Where did that even come from? I didn't think you had a prudent bone in your body."

Hevy smiles. The tension is dissipating, taking Droidbait's anger with it.

"I couldn't let this continue," he says "Beta squad has enough problems as it is, between us and the Teth survivors."

Droidbait grimaces.

"They're angry, too," he tells Hevy guiltily. "They don't really know why, but they know we're upset, and that's enough for them."

"Great," Hevy groans. "If they start asking questions—"

"They won't," Droidbait reassures. "They know better than anyone to leave painful baggage alone. They're angry because we're hurt, but they won't ask unless things get really bad." He shakes his head. "Thanks to you, they shouldn't. I'm sorry, brother. I let my frustration get the best of me."

Hevy reaches out and grasps his forearm firmly.

"You're alright, 'Bait. I'm hardly one to talk, considering I'm usually the one in your position."

Droidbait peers at him curiously. Hevy blinks at him.

"Uh. Droidbait?"

Droidbait jerks. "Sorry. Just making sure you weren't Echo in disguise. You've got a diplomatic side to you, Hevy. I never would have expected it from you."

Hevy can't even take offense to that, because Droidbait's right. Hevy hadn't expected it either.

"Desperate times, an' all that," he says gruffly. He has a reputation to uphold, after all (assuming it isn't already demolished). "Don't you have a shift to get to?"

"Yeah," Droidbait says. He lets go of Hevy's arm and heads for the door. When he opens it, he stops just before stepping out into the hallway to look back and meet Hevy's eyes.

"Hevy. Thank you," he says. The sincerity in his expression startles Hevy. "You're right, about it all. I'll fix this."

"I know you will," Hevy tells him. "Good luck."

Once Droidbait leaves, Hevy feels… different. It's the same feeling he gets when he's just gunned down a whole column of clankers by himself. It feels like success. Like victory.

He doesn't understand it, but he appreciates it all the same. He's done something good, that much he knows.

A few hours later, Echo and Droidbait walk into the barracks side by side. Droidbait is speaking softly to Echo, who has a hesitant smile on his face. Del, Attie, and Zeer enter in behind them, a steady calm resonating from them that hasn't existed within the squad for days. Hevy sighs in relief.

They'll be alright.

Now, they just need Cutup and Fives to wake up.

"Fives! Fives!"

Fives jerks and opens his eyes as the voice calling to him is nearly drowned out by the sound of an explosion. Sheer instinct has him scrambling to get to his feet, and he nearly bangs his helmeted head against the head of the clone bent over him.

"Blast it, Fives, watch it!" the brother snaps, leaning back. "Can you walk? We need to move!"

Fives stares into the man's visor in shock.

"Kix?" he whispers uncertainly, because there's no mistaking the commanding tone or the medic's sigil on the clone's shoulder. His gaze travels. He glances around Kix's body and freezes up at the sight of the dark, foggy landscape stretching beyond them. Luminescent plants and the harsh lights of blaster bolts in the distance are the only sources of light Fives can see.

He'd recognize Umbara anywhere.

"What—Kix, what's… why are we on Umbara? What's… where did you come from? I thought—"

Kix groans and grabs Fives without ceremony, heaving him to his feet.

"Great, you're concussed," the medic hisses. There's dried blood on his gloves, but Fives barely notices in his shock. "Just what I need. Listen, we've set up a medical station a couple hundred feet away, hidden by the plants—"

Another explosion sounds. The ground trembles. Behind them, Fives can hear brothers crying out in pain. Kix's fingers twitch.

"I'm not concussed," Fives says. "I was just confused for a minute. Go help the others," he orders. Kix snorts.

"I've heard that one before—"

"Fives! Kix!"

A brother barrels out of the mists in front of them. Fives' heart skips a beat as Hardcase skids to a stop. How he'd been running so quickly with a Z-6 in his arms is a mystery.

"Sergeant Appo's squadron took heavy casualties," Hardcase says quickly, taking Fives from Kix's grasp. Fives tries to pull away from them, because he's not concussed, but they don't let him. "Six, including Appo, are critically injured. They're at the bottom of the ridge. Captain Rex is headed there to provide support, but they need a medic—"

Kix is already sprinting away. He disappears into the darkness. Hardcase slaps the back of Fives' helmet lightly.

"Got yourself into trouble, eh, ARC?" he teases. "I'm not surprised."

Fives blinks at him uncomprehendingly.

"Hardcase—I thought… I thought you were dead," he gets out. "What—Umbara shouldn't—where's my squad?"

"Heh, I'm not dead yet," Hardcase tells him lightly. "Though I think Kix will kill us both if you don't sit down soon."

"No—Hardcase, listen, where's Echo?"

Suddenly Hardcase's body language turns serious, and his shoulders slump. "Ah, you're really concussed," he mutters. "Brother, I'd sugarcoat it, but I don't think you'd appreciate that. Echo's dead. Has been for a while."

"Wha—no, he isn't," Fives says. He furrows his brow. This isn't right. Something's off. Fives is confused.

Hardcase heaves a sigh. "I'm sorry, Fives."

Fives jerks. No, this is—this is wrong. He knows he shouldn't be here, he should be… somewhere else. Why is he on Umbara? Umbara had been ages ago. Wait, that isn't right. Umbara… hasn't even happened yet. He pulls himself out of Hardcase's grasp.

The reset. The Force. Domino squad.

"I'm dreaming," he whispers. "I'm dreaming, aren't I."

"I wish you were dreaming," Hardcase tells him seriously. "Come on, we have to get you to medical. The longer we wait here the bigger the chances are that we'll be seen—"

An explosion goes off right next to them as a tank round comes close. Hardcase stumbles, and they both go crashing to the ground. Fives lifts his head out of the dirt and feels a surge of fear at the sight of the dozens of Umbarans emerging from the mists, weapons blazing in the darkness.

"Kriff!" Hardcase hisses, scrambling to his feet. He lifts his Z-6 and lets out a barrage of return fire. The Umbarans stop advancing, but they don't retreat, either.

"I won't be able to hold them back!" Hardcase shouts. "Can you walk?"

Fives takes a deep breath and gets to his feet. Blasterfire rips around him, but instead of retreating he holds his ground and shakes his head.

"This isn't real," he says. "Umbara is far, far in the future. And if I have my way, it's never going to happen at all."

The world around Fives ripples and shifts. Objects that had seemed solid before disappear into smoke. The Umbarans freeze where they stand. Hardcase flickers in front of him like a ghost.

"Fives, are you alright?" Hardcase asks, turning to look at Fives over his shoulder. He's a figment of Fives' imagination, and doesn't notice that anything's wrong. He reaches out to tap Fives on the shoulder, but Fives moves away from him.

"Sorry, Hardcase," he says with a heavy heart. "You're dead, but I know how to make it so you aren't."

"Fives?"

Fives ignores him, and starts to walk away. Fortunately, he's made the right call. Umbara fades into nothing around him. Hardcase doesn't speak again, so Fives assumes he disappears, too.

"Where do you think you're going, clone?"

Fives doesn't stop walking. He's seen this all before. Umbara had haunted him until he died in his first life, and has continued to haunt him in his second. He knows if he turns, he will see Krell. He doesn't look back.

"Your ignorance will not save you."

Fives clenches his fists. He's beaten this dream hundreds of times before. This time is no different. If he keeps going, eventually he'll wake up.

The Besalisk laughs. Fives stiffens at the sound. Krell taunts him in his dreams, mocks him for his brothers' deaths, but the laugh is new, and it catches Fives off guard.

"So quick to abandon your brothers," the traitor muses. "I'm surprised at you, clone. I had expected you to race to their defense."

A clone voice, desperate, in pain— "Fives, please—please, you've gotta do something, Fives—!"

He shouldn't. He knows he shouldn't. But he does it anyway. He turns to look.

Krell is a ways behind him, just as Hevy had suspected, and he has one gigantic fist clamped tight over Hevy's throat, holding his weakly struggling brother in the air. Droidbait is on his knees at Krell's feet, eyes wide as the tip of a lightsaber hovers by his face. Krell's second saber is positioned over Cutup's exposed chest, where he lies immobilized under one of Krell's feet. Echo is slumped facedown on the ground in front of them, and Fives doesn't know if he's dead or not.

His dreams of Krell have never included Domino squad until now. Numbly he wonders what's changed.

"This is a dream. I've had enough nightmares to be able to recognize one when I see it. My brothers are safe. You can't touch them," Fives tries to say evenly. If Krell's sadistic grin is of any indication, he fails.

"That does not make it hurt you any less," Krell drawls, and snaps Hevy's neck. Fives' whole body jerks at the sight. He turns away fast, and closes his eyes tightly as he listens to the lightsabers slash through the air.

"Not real," Fives reminds himself. "Not real." But his breaths are coming out faster and faster. He can't slow them. "A dream. A dream," he chants, as if it will save him. It doesn't. Everything starts to happen faster as his mind whirls in panic, digging up new nightmares with ease—there are many to choose from.

Krell disappears, but that doesn't mean it's over. A figure emerges from the mist in front of him. Fives flinches as it comes closer.

"Joining me in the ranks of traitors, ARC?" Dogma sneers, eyes flashing with hatred. Fives recoils from him.

"I didn't betray anyone!" he replies hotly.

"Are you certain?" Dogma asks, except it's not Dogma anymore—suddenly it's the Chancellor, prowling around Fives like a shark. "You betrayed the Republic."

"You're the one who's betrayed the Republic!" Fives snarls, and lunges—

Then he's standing alone, in front of a firing squad. He lets out a shaky breath, tries to calm himself down, remind himself that it's a dream. He gets a closer look at the armor of his executioners and shudders in horror when he realizes that it's the rest of Domino. His brothers stare at him blankly, fingers tight on the triggers of their weapon. They do not recognize him—or they do, and just don't care.

"Ready! Aim!" someone shouts, and with a sudden certainty Fives knows his brothers will not miss. Just before they pull the trigger the dream shifts ever so slightly. 501st blue transforms to Coruscant red. Fox is aiming right at his heart. Fives turns his head just in time to see General Skywalker watching from the sidelines, stone-faced. The General's mouth opens.

"Fire."

Limbs are holding him in place as he struggles, thrashes. Fives needs to move, needs to leave the nightmares behind. He'd made a mistake by turning to look. He has to get free, he has to keep moving—

Someone slaps him. Hard.

"—listening now, you kriffing moron? Look at me. Look at me, Fives."

A light is shining in his eyes. He hisses and tries to roll away from it, and when the light is finally taken away a very irritated Coric is glaring at him. There's a bruise on the side of his face.

"Finally," he mutters. "You with me now, or are you planning on punching me again?"

Fives coughs when he tries to respond. Coric sighs, and the anger visibly drains from his body.

"Don't talk yet," he says. "Your body is still recovering."

They're in the Resolute's medbay. For a moment Fives is still confused, struggling to decide if this is dream or reality—because even though he'd known it was a dream, it had felt real, and this feels no different.

He stills when he remembers why he's in the medbay to begin with.

"Where's Cutup?" he croaks out, and regrets it. His throat is scratched raw. Coric arches an eyebrow at him, but saves the lecture.

"Cutup woke up yesterday. I cleared him to leave the medbay this morning. You took longer to recover. I assume it's because you insisted on staying awake until rescue came. The Captain did the same thing, and he's still unconscious. Stable, though."

Fives only dimly remembers their rescue, and he'd been too out of it to really comprehend anything but the fact that the Generals had finally returned. He'd collapsed the moment he'd seen the biosuit-clad men rush Cutup out. He heaves a sigh of relief that his brother is recovering.

He'd thought Cutup was dying, when he'd lost consciousness. He'd thought that it had all been for nothing, and that they were about to lose someone already.

He's never been so glad to be wrong in his entire life.

"Tipper, I know you're bored, but there are better things to do than play with my scalpels," Coric suddenly says. The expression of long-suffering on his face as he turns is utterly priceless. Fives glances over and grins at Tipper's guilty expression as he returns a scalpel to it's tray. The shiny is sitting on a cot on the other side of the medbay, next to Captain Rex's still form.

"Sorry," Tipper apologizes. His voice is raspy, but it's tons better than Fives' croaking. "I'm bored, though."

"Yes, you've told me several times in the past five minutes," Coric replies patiently. "You have two and a half more hours before you're officially cleared to leave."

Tipper sighs and flops back onto his bed. Coric rolls his eyes as he grabs a datapad and sends a quick message.

"If it makes you feel any better, the rest of Torrent's Beta squad will probably be up here in a few minutes," Coric tells him. "I just let them know that Fives is awake, give it ten minutes or so and I think—"

The door bursts open.

"Fives!" Hevy cries enthusiastically, hurrying his way through the medbay. "Glad you're finally awake, you idiot!" The entirety of Beta squad is right behind him. Fives tenses at the sight of them, images of Krell and Umbara flashing through his mind, but he steadies himself and shoves the nightmares to the back of his mind where they won't bother him for a while.

Coric gives the squad a very unimpressed look. Echo shrugs at him.

"We didn't have anything better to do, so we camped outside the door," Nax explains gleefully. Even Del is with them, expression carefully neutral as he makes his way in.

"I don't know why I'm surprised," Coric says. He casts a dangerous look at Cutup, who's trying to push his way past Zeer. "I seem to recall restricting you to your bed for the next twelve hours." Cutup does still look a bit sickly, but his grin is undaunted by that.

"Not sorry," he says, finally getting past Zeer. As they huddle around his bed, Fives tries to sit up, but his arms tremble beneath him, so he decides that isn't the best idea. Cutup crouches down by his head, and the grin slides off of his face as Fives turns to look at him.

"I would have died," Cutup says abruptly. "If you hadn't been there to keep me awake, I wouldn't have been strong enough to survive."

Fives twitches. "That isn't true," he protests. "You could have—"

"No," Cutup insists. Fives stares into his brother's eyes and realizes that Cutup is dead serious. "I would have died, Fives. You kept me alive. Thank you."

Something swells in Fives' chest at Cutup's words, and he swallows down a lump in his throat. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat," he admits softly—exposing a raw truth that exists at the very center of his being. Fives would give his life for his brothers without hesitation. Throughout all the uncertainty that exists in his life that is the one thing that remains constant, and will be constant until the end of time.

Cutup bites his lip uncertainly for a moment before taking a deep breath and reaching forwards to wrap his arms around Fives. Fives returns the hug as best he can while laying in bed. Cutup's arms tremble. Fives wonders if it's from relief, or the last lingering dregs of fear.

When Cutup pulls away, he looks steady—as if Fives' recovery has balanced him. His grin slowly reappears.

"Alright, alright, stop monopolizing him," Hevy grumbles. A chuckle runs through the squad as Cutup glares at him. They'd been quiet as Cutup had spoken, recognizing the need for resolution there, and now that it's taken care of they break their silence. In Fives' still sluggish mind it feels like they're all talking to him at once, and he blinks a couple times to try and reorientate himself.

"Hey, hey!" Coric calls. "Calm it down, he's still a little out of it. Don't crowd. One at a time."

Fives is grateful for it when they back off a little, allowing him to focus. He lets his eyes skim over the group, and sucks in a nervous breath when he spots Droidbait. Droidbait is hanging at the back of the crowd, behind Attie, and his expression is terrifyingly blank.

Oh, no. Fives knows he's messed this one up, big time. He'd lied, and Droidbait especially isn't one to let a betrayal like that go so easily.

"Droidbait," he says softly. "Droidbait… I…" He has to stop for a moment as Droidbait makes his way to Fives' side. The words of the apology stick in his throat.

He's hurt his brother. Guilt sweeps through his body.

"Droidbait, I'm so sorr—"

"Fives. I forgive you."

Fives' eyes widen.

"You—what?"

"I forgive you," Droidbait repeats gently. Fives gaps at him. He can't comprehend it. If it was him in Droidbait's place, he would be absolutely furious. Betrayal hurts. Fives knows this better than most.

"It's alright," Droidbait tells him. A small smile appears on his face. "Provided it doesn't happen again, that is. Which I don't think it will."

"Never," Fives vows, a bit incredulously. "'Bait, you don't—?"

Droidbait puts a hand on Fives' shoulder. "I was angry at first. And it was justified, I think." Fives winces and nods. Droidbait continues. "But we've got better things to do than sit around and be mad at each other. If a squad can't trust each other, then what good are they?" Fives clenches his jaw in shame, but Droidbait taps his chest lightly. "That's exactly why I'm not angry anymore. I know you're aware of that fact, and I also know you're aware that you and Echo messed up. That's why it won't happen again, and why I forgive you both. You're going to beat yourself up for it enough as it is."

The relief that overtakes Fives is overwhelming. Hevy is grinning like a lunatic on his other side. The Teth survivor's expressions are curious, but they don't ask for details, which Fives is infinitely grateful for.

Once Droidbait steps back, Beta squad seems content to cluster around him for the time being, updating Fives on everything that's happened since Naboo.

"The Commander woke up around the same time Cutup did," Attie explains as he presses one of his smuggled candies into Fives' palm. "She's going to be just fine. Fortunately the virus didn't affect her any differently than it did us humans. Senator Amidala is alright, too. She wasn't exposed to the toxin as long as the rest of you, so she was actually the first one to wake up.

"So the Captain is the only one we're still waiting on," Fives says, glancing over towards Captain Rex's bed. He unwraps Attie's candy and pops it into his mouth as Coric nods grimly.

"He stayed awake until we'd reached the ship before finally collapsing. That clone has one of the strongest wills of anyone I've ever met. I bet he's a lot like the original template."

"Any estimation on how long he'll be unconscious?" Fives asks. Coric shrugs helplessly.

"Not really. We know he will recover, but not when. With any luck, it'll be soon, because we're going to be shipped out again in a few days."

"Force," Fives mutters. "Well, at least he can't punish me until he's back on active duty." Cutup shoots him a sympathetic look. Fives shrugs at him. He'd submitted himself to the fact that he'd face consequences for his choice since the very beginning. Fortunately, Rex hadn't seemed angry with him in the heat of the moment, but Fives knows better than to be optimistic about his sentence.

Echo has been patiently waiting to get his turn to speak with Fives since the beginning, allowing the rest of their brothers to ensure Fives is alright first. Now, he moves close and sits on the side of Fives' bed. Cutup moves to make room for him.

Relax, Echo's hands say. I'm keeping watch.

Fives knows that by 'keeping watch' Echo is referring to keeping an eye on what's coming next for the 501st. Fives relaxes at that. As long as Echo is keeping an eye on the timeline, they'll still be alright, even if Fives has been unconscious for a while. He's still too out of it to focus on the complicated issues of time travel. In fact, with Echo finally next to him, Fives feels safe, and it's getting hard to keep his eyes open.

Coric notices that immediately.

"Alright, out," he orders gently. "Fives still needs rest. He won't be able to leave the medbay for twenty-four more hours, anyway, so you all might as well get some work done until then."

His words are met with an impressive cacophony of groans, but Beta squad complies. Cutup stops by Tipper's bed to chat, who perks up cheerfully at the conversation. The rest of Beta squad exits, but Echo lingers for just a moment.

"Don't do that again," Echo finally says, so softly that Fives almost doesn't hear. "Blast it, Fives. I don't think I can do this without you."

"I can't promise you anything," Fives admits weakly, ashamed that he can't tell Echo what he wants to hear. "I'd rather lose my own life than lose a brother again. And you could do it without me. You're smarter than I am, anyway."

Echo flinches at his words. "I'm no smarter than you are, you just show it differently," he says. "I knew you would say something like that. But your death would crush us, Fives. We may not have voted on it, but you're our leader. You're the one keeping us going. Just… be careful, okay? I thought I was going to lose you again."

Fives reaches up and puts his palm over the handprint on Echo's chest reassuringly.

"I'm not planning on dying anytime soon. Especially since I know you're going to have my back from here on out, right?" He gives Echo a tired smile, who returns it and then starts to back off.

"Get some rest," Echo tells him. "When you get out of here, we'll worry about what's coming. Until then, recover. Listen to the medics, for once in your life."

Fives lets out a courtesy grumble at that as Echo leaves.

Cutup and Tipper are still whispering in the corner, but Fives doesn't mind. The familiar lilt of clone voices is comforting to him, so it doesn't take very long for sleep to overtake him again.

He's done his duty. All of his brothers are safe. He can afford to rest, for a little bit.

The next morning, Fives gets released from the medbay. To Cutup, the barracks feel completely normal once he's back, with the usual antics taking place. Zeer and Hevy have a disassembled Z-6 in front of them, and are crouched over the pieces, muttering to each other. Cutup dimly hears something about a flamethrower and tries not to be alarmed. Droidbait and Attie are reading something off of a datapad at the table. Fives, released from the medbay but still under firm orders to stay in bed, is fidgeting impatiently even though Echo and Nax are trying to keep him occupied with light conversation. Cutup himself is wiping down his DC-15 and watching curiously as Coric runs through a medic program that flashes the screen of his datapad green every time he answers a question correctly. He hasn't gotten one wrong yet.

"Um… are you boys busy?" inquires a young voice. From his seat at one of the tables, Del nearly has a conniption when he realizes that their Commander has made her way into the barracks without anyone even noticing. For a long moment, everyone stares at the Togruta in surprise, pausing in their chosen activities.

"Sir!" Nax finally gets out, shooting to his feet and coming to attention. Everyone moves to follow him, but Commander Tano winces, waving a hand at them quickly.

"It's alright, men. I'm not here on business."

Beta squad relaxes.

"Uh, then why are you here, Commander?" Attie asks curiously. Commander Tano shuffles her feet—nervously, Cutup realizes. Why on earth is a Jedi nervous?

"Well…" the Commander begins, and then her gaze lands on Cutup. She stares at him imploringly, as if expecting him to understand. He freezes under her stare for a brief moment before he finally realizes what's going on.

"Oh," he says. A grin spreads onto his face almost involuntarily. "I did say anyone would teach you, didn't I."

She grins at him. Cutup turns to his brothers, who are wearing various expressions of confusion and alarm.

"She doesn't know how to play sabacc," Cutup explains. "I told her anyone would teach her."

"I wanted to learn from you, though," Commander Tano tells him. "Also Tipper." She glances around the room as if expecting the Tide soldier to be hiding in a corner.

"I can call him," Cutup tells her. "If he's not on duty, he'll come. We'll teach you everything you need to know."

"Darn right we will," Fives chimes in. His words seem to break the spell of surprise that had fallen over the squad. Attie, Nax, and Droidbait drift closer, eager smiles appearing on their faces. Fives starts to get out of bed.

"Oh, no you don't, Fives," Coric snaps. "You're staying right there."

"What? I want to play!" Fives complains. "C'mon, Coric. It's not going to hurt anything!"

Echo rolls his eyes. "I'll supervise the child, Coric."

"Hey!"

Coric sighs. "Fine. But if something happens, don't say I didn't warn you."

They settle on the floor in the middle of the barracks. At first, the atmosphere is a little bit tense. It's strange, to have the Commander talking to them so casually. Fives and Echo are used to it, though, and are able to keep the Commander from realizing she's the cause of the tension until the others grow more comfortable with her. It doesn't take long for everyone to adjust. Commander Tano smiles a lot, and speaks to the clones like the they would talk to their own brothers. When Cutup starts to break out the cards, she's joking with the rest of the squad, who reciprocate with ease. It feels natural, and it makes Cutup grin.

"Right, the max is eight players," Cutup says. "Who's in?"

Cutup and the Commander are automatically counted. Nax, Attie, and Fives volunteer to join immediately. Attie convinces Droidbait to play with some wheedling. Surprisingly, Coric joins them as well. Zeer decides to sit out, and Del still looks slightly uncomfortable, so he remains at his spot at the table. Hevy makes a face when they ask him to play.

"I'm terrible at sabacc," he reminds them. "I'm fine with just watching, really."

Tipper chooses that moment to enter the barracks, an infectious grin on his face. He laughs when he sees the Commander and takes a seat next to Cutup. He isn't a shiny anymore—swirling blue patterns meant to look like smoke cover his armor. It's supposed to be the virus, Cutup realizes, and slaps Tipper on the back in congratulations.

With Tipper there, they have a full eight players. Cutup fixes the Commander with a serious look as he begins to deal the cards.

"Alright, here's how this works," he begins. "Each card is worth a specific number of points. In order to have a winning hand, the sum of all of your cards must equal either negative twenty-three or twenty-three. After we all place our bets, we can start drawing cards to try and get our hands closer to the winning numbers. There is one way you can beat a winning hand, with something called an Idiot's Array. If you can get a two of any suit, a three of any suit, and then have the rest of your cards equal zero, your hand will be stronger than another hand that's worth only twenty-three…"

It's a good thing Beta squad doesn't usually play for actual credits, because if they had been, the Commander would have wiped them clean.

She spends the first several rounds not really watching her own cards—instead, she watches everyone else play, first. Cutup assumes she's still trying to pick up all of the rules, but during the fourth round she picks up her cards, bets a ridiculous amount of imaginary credits, and proceeds to get an Idiot's Array before Cutup is even close to twenty-three.

"Kriff," Nax says incredulously as she reveals her hand. "What the actual kriff. You're sure you've never played this before, sir?"

"Nope," the Commander tells them smugly.

"You sure you aren't using the force to count cards or something?" Fives asks suspiciously.

"Nope," she repeats, grinning as she waves a hand to collect the imaginary pot. "I've figured out all of your tells, though. Fives' was the hardest to see, but I figured it out eventually."

"Are you kidding me?" Attie groans. "Kriffing Jedi."

"I'd take offense, but I think I mostly agree with you," Commander Tano says slyly, even as Droidbait smacks the back of Attie's helmet. "Are we playing another round?"

"Of course!" Tipper says eagerly. Cutup obliges them and deals out another round.

The clones step up their game. The Commander doesn't win the next round—Coric does, and then Tipper wins the next. She does win again after that, twice in a row, until Cutup is finally able to take her down.

"Blast, I'm so glad we don't have any credits," Fives mutters. "I'd be so broke right about now."

By the time they finish, Commander Tano is fully up to speed on all the rules of sabacc, and is terrifyingly good at it already. She doesn't have quite enough experience to beat the men every single time, but she can hold her own, and Cutup knows she'll be unstoppable someday.

The Commander gets to her feet after the last round and stretches.

"Thanks, guys!" she tells them cheerfully. "That was fun! Sorry I crashed your party, though."

"It's not like we were doing anything important," Cutup points out.

"Yeah, this was loads more fun than sitting in bed doing nothing," Fives says. He stays seated on the ground when everyone else stands. "You're welcome here anytime, sir. As long as we aren't playing for credits, that is."

She laughs. "I don't have any spare credits, so I think you're safe." She glances at a clock and winces. "I've gotta go meet up with my Master. I'll see you boys later!" She gives them one last little wave before making her way out of the barracks, and then she's gone.

Cutup replicates her facial markings on his helmet in 501st blue.

He debates for some time before he finally decides to do it, worried that it'll offend her, or worse. Eventually he does it anyway. His reasoning is simple. She's a fierce warrior and a trusted Commander. She has his absolute loyalty, and he knows no better way to show that than to put it on his armor.

If she has any issue with it at all, even if it's a small thing, he'll erase it. He resolves to do so just in case, and he's fully prepared to face her disgust or even anger.

When he sees her next in the hallway near the main hangar, there's a split second's pause as she takes in his new markings, and then a bright smile flashes across her face.

"Cutup, your armor!" she cries cheerfully, and spends a good ten minutes fawning over the paintwork, comparing it to her own markings and expressing her approval.

She's okay with it. Cutup breathes a sigh of relief.

He's honored that she's allowing him to carry her markings. She has no idea how much it means to him, how it (she) represents survival and determination and grace in the wake of intangible danger, to him. Now, he just has to live up to the ferocity and power that those markings portray.

He's not planning on letting her down.

A/N: Ha, it amuses me to see that I get nearly twice as many reviews when I leave a chapter on a cliffhanger. So what y'all are telling me is that you want… more cliffhangers? In that case you won't be disappointed, because if you couldn't already tell, I love 'em!

My writing felt… different, this chapter around. Not bad, just different. I dunno.

The first part of this chapter is admittedly a little boring, but it's necessary, too. Sorry 'bout that.

So, you can actually look up how to play sabacc. No official rules have technically been released, but by paying careful attention to the books, some wonderful people have developed a rough playing guide. There are multiple versions out there. To be completely honest, I know very little about betting card games. Hopefully no one minds that I brushed over the fine details a little.

Updates will get a bit sporadic through December. It can't be helped. Hopefully I'll be able to get in another few updates, but finals are coming up, and as much as I adore this story school must take priority.