Chapter 1 - Put Your Empty Hands in Mine

Plot:The Bad Batch are on Teth when they stumble through a portal through space and time, stumbling onto a planet they've never seen, absorbing powers they've never heard of. As they struggle with their newfound abilities and family reunions, visions from far away don't let them rest. Unknowingly, they awoke an ancient power on Mortis that follows everywhere they go.

Warning: Canon-typical violence (but a tad more graphic)

This is for the Clone Bang. :) Thanks to polar-orbit on tumblr for beta reading, and khiquii on tumblr for the art!

~ Rivana Rita

It started right when Hunter saw Crosshair go over the waterfall with ghostly familiar figure. Starts before he even hits the water, and the sticky humidity turns to rain, the rushing waterfall turns to thunder, and dark purple trees and sky warps to blue.

The energy fields are off, and he's alone.

There's a jagged flash of lightning, brightening the outside. Towering, jagged mountain peaks rewrite the rough jungle terrain.

Thunder crashes in the background.

An entire world, re and unwritten.

Hunter turns, blaster drawn, but nothing. He couldn't have teleported. That doesn't happen. It doesn't. Something's wrong, and he's not dreaming.

Lightning flashes again, their surging electric current flickering across the sky and ground and prickling over his skin.

The others were just here, but now they're gone, and Hunter doesn't know what happened. He has no idea where he is, or where his family is, He needs to be helping Crosshair. He just went over a waterfall, but there's nothing here. There's no one here. His entire squad – his family is gone. Hunter's here alone.

Something about this planet is wrong. Hunter can always feel an entire planet's surface, but this is vast and unending. Open and seamless. He doesn't get it. He has to get home. That shadow was chasing them, and they need help. He doesn't know where he is.

Hunter's never been alone before, but he is now. And he has to agree with Echo on one thing – he hates solitary. He's not crazy, because this place is very much real, but nothing about it makes sense. People don't teleport. Hunter feels every flicker of electricity, every pulsing and shifting electron. It's overwhelming and his head throbs at the flashing of energy light.

Lightning flashes again, and Hunter sees someone else the same time he senses and smells him. "Echo?"

"Hunter?" he asks over the rain, looking at his hand and scomp, then back up at him. "How'd you get here?"

"I don't know."

"Yeah. Same." He huffs out an annoyed sound.

Lightning flashes again. The storm is bad. They need shelter. If Echo's here, Hunter doesn't know what it means for the rest of his family. Focus. He has to get himself and Echo somewhere safe until the storm is up enough they find a transport, or way to contact someone.

The energy tenses up ahead – some sort of concentrated source. Something distantly bluish white shimmers through the darkness, shining down on a towering structure. "There," Hunter says, pointing, "It might give us some cover."

They could be hostile. He misses Tech. Tech would know. He always knew, but he's gone because of Hunter, the same way everyone else is now.

Lightning crashes beside them, a zillion electrons rippling outwards and twisting through the air, rushing through him. Prickling over his skin and inside and out. He feels it coming, and Hunter ducks aside. The bolts are too frequent and violent, twisting and jagged. He tackles Echo aside as another comes down, and they roll into a rocky formation together.

"Storm's getting worse," Hunter grunts as they stumble to their feet – Echo gives him a hand he doesn't need to stand. There's a long way on, and they have to keep moving.

"No kidding," Echo agrees, "I'm not so sure we're making it through in one piece."

Lightning flashes again, and this time the energy doesn't fade. It stays, flaring and flickering and burning, the air vibrant and energy waterfalling into him. Everything's slow, too slow. Hunter turns back to Echo, and another jagged bolt zigzags downward.

This one is different, tinged with purple, and Hunter tries to move, to tackle Echo to safety again, but the current is drawn to the metal interfacing in his older brother's entire body. It lights with a flash, and for a millisecond, Echo looks glow-y.

Hunter yells his name, trying to move because the current will short him out and kill him, but something explodes. He's thrown backwards towards the rocks, but something ripples and shifts and Hunter hits a duracrete floor somewhere.

He lands on his back, blinking up at the stormy sky. "Echo?" The thunder and rain drown out his voice, shattering it into a million pieces against the mountainsides. Hunter stumbles to his feet, turning toward the storm. "Echo!"

Nothing.

He's alone.

Echo's – no. Echo survived getting blown up. He got three of his limbs ripped off at once and fractured his spine and got half of him burned off by the fire and lava fumes – no. Echo's not dead. He can't be.

But is that any less possible than Tech?

Echo. All of them. He's supposed to be with Wrecker and Crosshair and Omega and Emerie. Not here. He failed them again, and he can't – They're going to die and that's going to be his fault because he can't stop it. He can't stop anything.

He hits the ground on his knees. Tears burn his eyes and Hunter rips his helmet off as they spill down his face. Crosshair. Echo. Omega. Tech. He failed all of them. His brothers his purpose his family his –

"They're all going to die here because of your failed leadership."

"You're becoming a liability."

"Every choice you've made since Kaller has been wrong."

"She went through what she did because you failed."

Helplessness is exhausting. Just like it was watching Tech fall and feeling the charge in Crosshair's blaster pressed to his back when all he could do was stand and watch. Helpless.

He keeps on failing. All he wants is his family safe, but he can't do that can't do anything.

"They're all going to die here –"

" – because you failed."

No. No. They can't.

His hands flicker out into an aqua mist before reforming.

Okay.

Yeah.

He's definitely hallucinating.

Nothing hurts, but something is definitely wrong.

Hunter looks up. He's at the base of the building they were heading towards. The dim light from the diamond-glowing structure shines down on him. It's a softly glowing light in the darkness, and it feels more than visible. The lightning and storm suddenly feels far away.

"This is your test," a disembodied voice says.

Hunter tenses, jerking to his feet and going for his blaster. "Who are you?"

"Go inside. You'll find what you need." That could just as well be a bad thing. He doesn't know what's inside, but the lightning is bad, and he does need cover. Echo. Echo could've used the cover. Lightning's drawn to him, but that was too fast. He can't –

He has to find his squad. They need his help. (Do they? Or does he just think they do? Does he just want them to? Because he has nowhere else to go and it's his only purpose? He's the one who got Tech killed. He's why Omega was captured, why Crosshair was hurt. He let him walk away. Made him walk away. And – Crosshair made his own choices and Hunter did everything he could to stop him, but that doesn't – make the guilt go away. Maybe it wasn't enough.)

He doesn't know where they are. They all could be hurt, and that was because of him. It always is. He wants to cry or scream his throat raw. His tears are hot on his face, and standing is hard, but Hunter takes up his helmet and moves for the tower.

Hunter knows the most difficult part of being a leader sometimes is trying to survive. Comms spark and static when he tries to reach out. There's no use. He has no way of helping them when that's the only thing that matters.

There's nothing he can do. There's nothing he can do, and all Hunter wants – as always – is to protect his squad and get them out of here. They need to get back to Pabu safely.

He shouldn't've let Crosshair go, but he wanted to trust him and Crosshair knew what he was up against, but then – this. There's nothing Hunter can do for him. For anyone.

He can't lose them again. It's his entire family.

He can't fail them again.

"They're all going to die here –"

All he can do right now is wait.

Inside is black and aqua. Hunter's colors. Just minus the red.

The energy field is rippling as though there's a person in here, but Hunter sees nothing. He can't feel the heartbeat. He lowers his blaster, holstering it.

Energy is burning in the air again. The same as when Echo – when the air whips around him and energy pulses and burns, touching his skin and snaking beneath. Hunter gasps at the burning that flares up. His knees hit the floor.

It's waterfalling into him, burning and twisting and something's reforming. He cries out against it as something is ripped apart inside him. It feels like every cell of his body is on fire, burning in and out, shredding him to nothing until darkness finally claims him.

**w**

The waterfall ends far below. The night air is sticky but cold and everything is cold or maybe it's just Tech. Maybe it's just that he's fighting his brother who killed all of Rex's men and is trying to kill him, too. Crosshair doesn't know, but when he throws them both over the cliff edge, he expects to hit the water. He doesn't.

Something changes. It's shifting and morphing, the dark purple surroundings rippling and shifting, rewriting into dark orange, and they hit the ground together.

Crosshair grunts as his side smacks into the rocky ground and they roll away from each other. His armor absorbs most of the blow, but ow – pain stabs through his side and a good dozen other places from the landing.

Also, what the kriff?

Crosshair pushes himself up, looking around. He's on –

They're – actually, where are they? There's the rushing sound of something too thick to be pure water but waterfall-like in the background. Lava. They're on a rocky ledge out of the middle of a lava flow, which wasn't here earlier, and they're in a pit somewhere. The walls around them are towering and he can see the top way up, but with the lava flowing from the inside down, melting the walls and burning everything away, there's no way out.

It should be sweltering here. It should be too hot for them to breathe and anything to live – there's no plants here, just bare rock – but something feels cold.

This isn't where they were. Something's not right. But he's here, and Tech's here, and the others aren't. There's no way out.

There's a flowing lava river parting them off from an island in the center of the well. There's a design in its middle. Not one he recognizes, though Tech probably would. Hunter and Echo might. It's jagged and the turns are too sharp and the angles too narrow. Whatever it is, Crosshair's guess is it's bad.

A shuffle and a hiss has him look to where not-Tech is picking himself up, knife in hand. Crosshair flips himself aside as the blade slashes down at him.

(It's just him and Tech. Like right back in the training room.)

Something red and misty crawls out of the ground, the design lighting up and shimmering red, creeping towards him.

Something's wrong with this place, something's –

Crosshair ducks barely in time to dodge a vibroblade Tech pulled out of stars-knows-where. He ducks back into a roll, jerking his arms up to keep the blade away. "You had your chance to be one of us." His words are violently furious with an anger Crosshair knows so well.

"I'm going to give you what you never gave me. A chance."

"You offered us a chance, Crosshair. This is yours."

Crosshair kicks him back and jolts to his feet, going for his hand blaster. Tech shoves his hand aside and the blaster falls, clanking onto the rocks. His back slams into the rocks again when Teck kicks him. His reflexes are fast, way too fast and Crosshair doesn't want to die here –

"– you wanna stay here and die, that's your call –"

The blade is close, and Crosshair tries to brace his arms against it, but it's so close. (Is that how Hunter felt? Wrecker?)

"You chose the wrong side!"

The blade is shifting closer and stars this is Tech he's going to die he's –

No. This is Tech stars this is his fault what did he do what did he do whatdidhedowhatwhy –

He doesn't want to die. He's the one who dragged Tech into this, even if he didn't mean to and Crosshair is why his brother lost his mind, and he made this happen. He took him here but stars he doesn't want to die he doesn't want Tech to be the one who kills him.

He's shaking and his arms are straining as he shoves, and there's a lava flow right beside him. One wrong move and he'll –

He's going to die here.

" – you wanna stay here –"

Stop.

Crosshair gasps, trying to angle the knife away so it doesn't hit him or at least nothing vital, tears of raw desperation burning his eyes. He wants to be able to make it. He's tired of being nothing. He wants to get out of here. He wants to go home. He wants Hunter.

He maneuvers Tech's blade aside, and it rebounds off the rock wall, thumping onto the rocky ledge.

Crosshair shoves himself upright, and Tech's helmet smashes ungracefully into his face and he throws him. Crosshair hits the ground next to the lava flow and rolls over. This is literally begging someone to get burned to death. This is lava – someone's gonna end up incinerated, and Crosshair can't think of anything other than the desperate, gnawing panic in his chest. He can't let his brother kill him.

He deserves to die here and he knows that but everything hurts and he's so, so tired of being in pain. That's all there is to feel, all that never changes.

He rams his boot into his brother's stomach, shoving him back, and rolls to his feet again. The heat of the lava is licking at his boots, and he shifts forward to avoid it.

Tech's standing again. Crosshair's blaster is near his foot, and his rifle is stars-know-where. The molten rocks' golden orange glow glints off Tech's helmet. He looks sinisterly terrifying, and for the first time Crosshair just knows. He's going to die here. He thought he would, but the knowing is terrifying. He can't do this. Tech wouldn't hurt him and this isn't him but it's still his brother and he can't think of anything but the raw, aching need to not be hurt by his brother again.

The Shadow Tech's fist slams into him and Crosshair steps back to catch himself but his boot hits nothing and he falls into the happily waiting lava river below.

A strangled sob wracks his body and he tries to catch something but there's nothing and no one and he wants to stop being unseen, unnoticed and forgotten. He wants to burn the world. Wants to stop hurting. Stop feeling. Stop – just, stop.

The air is thickly dark with soot and smoke. Something explodes. He doesn't see fire, but he hears and feels it. It's hot and burning and it rips through every inch of him, tearing him apart. It's burning. It's ripping apart every cell in his body and he can't breathe enough to scream. Tech's here. The shadow of his brother is here and he could kill him while he can't move and he could hurt him and Crosshair can't – he can't stop him.

He tries to get up, but he can't. Everything's distant and hazy.

He still can move but he shouldn't be able to and something's wrong and he doesn't even know what. Crosshair hears something distant, but he can't hear anything over the pounding of his own heart.

He's on the surface somehow and when he opens his eyes and tries to find some semblance of Tech to help, the red mist wraps around shadow-Tech. Crosshair doesn't remember seeing him go down, but he's down. He's struggling and Crosshair gasps faintly at his scream. He tries to move, but everything hurts too much stars he needs it to stop hurting he needs the riverbank he's so, so tired of being hurt he wants it to stop.

He still hears Tech in the background. Just – a voice, distant and fragmented against the flowing rock.

Crosshair's vision blacks out.

**w**

The electric voltage jolts through him, brilliant and lightening, exploding with a rush of purple. It runs through him, flesh and metal alike, burning at his joints and wire connections.

Echo falls, catching himself on his hand, panting. He shakes his head with a quiet angry snarl and tries to push himself up. His head is throbbing, and something feels different. He doesn't know what it is.

The storm sounds distant, but the air is heavy and cold. There's a burning darkness in the air, and it chills him to the core, more than the rain washing down on him. He feels something, like the million equations and numbers and information layered over programming every time he scomps in. It burns in the middle of his brain, layers of burning and heat, and he can envision the planet in his mind.

Energy swirls around and nearby – Hunter's smoke-covered forest-presence is up at the tower. How Echo knows that, he doesn't know. These are powers, feelings that only Jedi talk about. Something dark is burned under the ground, and another brilliant light somewhere far ahead. Everything is rolling and twisting and Echo grits his teeth as he tries to make it to his feet. He lost Hunter, and as capable as he might be, he's still his little brother, and overwhelmingly stupid.

Echo lost his entire squad once. He has to get back to save this one.

Rex and the kid were on Teth, and he had to get back to save them. Echo doesn't know what happened.

The sharp pain lancing through his head makes it hard to focus. He's focusing on too much, way too much and seeing everything.

The air is staticky. It's twisting, and there's a bright smokey light ahead that Echo knows is there somehow even if he can't see it.

"Well, there you are," a voice says, and he would know that sound anywhere. A million years away and he could never forget it, lifetimes lived and gone.

Echo stands.

Lightning flashes, illuminating the figure in front of him. His armor is the same – blue and white, the red markings on his helmet. Flickers again, and his helmet's off. His face is the same as Echo remembers. The five on his head stands out vividly, even in the darkness.

Echo tries to get his mouth to work. The most he can get out is a "what did you do to your hair?" He's not kidding – Fives looks awful without it.

His twin throws head back and laughs. "Maybe I was trying to copy you."

He could laugh. He wants to cry. Fives is dead. His twin brother is dead, and there's no going back from this. This isn't him. It's not real. Or maybe Echo's dead, too. "You never saw me like this."

"I've been watching you a long time. I didn't think I'd get my chance to come home, but here I am."

He can't breathe. His body shudders with a strangled sob. Fives. This is his brother. The only one he's ever had, who he spent a lifetime without before he finally came home. And then – then – the war was so short, gone in a flash of flames.

Something's burning inside him, and in his head he hears the distant "Echo look out" from a lifetime away. He remembers waking, aching and throbbing, his body foreign and remade. He remembers the agonized inability to feel as his spine fractured in half of a dozen places. And then he'd woke with a body not his own, staring at what was left of his arm with a panicky this isn't mine this isn't me what did they do to me.

He remembers the weight of Rex's hands on his shoulders, the gentle worry in his older brother's eyes and the calm steadfastness with which he stayed by his side. He remembers the "you're safe now, you're going home."

Anakin and Tech had been shadowing behind him, identical looks of gentle worry in their wildly different colored eyes – the bright blue and dark brown. Both his family – his little brother, and his general – and both gone.

Gone like the shadows, and he remembers walking down the ramp of the Marauder onto Anaxes, scanning the hangar, expecting to see his twin brother waiting, but Fives was gone forever. And Echo had been furious. He'd been empty, and he wanted to burn the galaxy for what they did to his brother. It hadn't seemed real, until it sunk in Fives wasn't standing there as Kix and the droids checked him over. Fives would always be at his side when he was hurt, and Echo would be there for him.

It wasn't real until it finally sunk in that Fives wouldn't be at his side when he slept, that he never would be again, and with the shock of it came an overwhelming fierce need to burn. He wants to burn everything.

(The grief and hurt hadn't hit until after he'd left. It'd been a couple weeks, and he'd been so moody Echo was half certain his new squad would kick him out, but they sat beside him the entire time.)

(Tech was beside him the entire time.)

(And Echo got him killed.)

(Rex was wrong about one thing. There's no home for him to go back to.)

"You shouldn't be here," is all Echo can say.

Fives' smile is as goofy as it always is. "Neither should you."

Echo scoffs. Tears prick his eyes, but he hasn't cried in weeks. He's not breaking that streak. Fives. He shouldn't be real, unless Echo's dead, and that's not impossible though still unlikely. Echo's curse is being unable to die. He'd be a lot happier if he could. The mission gave him something to focus on. It gave him something so he could stop thinking. He didn't have Fives.

All he had was to burn the Separatists out of the galaxy for what they did to him and his brother, but then the war ended, and he had nothing. Hunter didn't want to fight, and Echo understood it, but he couldn't live a life without a purpose. Yeah, he wanted the kid and his brothers to be happy, and leaving was hard but it was what he had to do.

The mission is always first.

They're nothing without it.

Fives wasn't like that. None of the brothers he loves are like that. That's why they mean what they do to him. He wonders if Fives would have left. If he would have already won the war. It should have been him who was here instead.

There's a gentle flickering of purple light reflecting off Fives' armor, and Echo looks down. Ripples of purple energy are sparking off his body, flickering off his hand like shuddering electricity.

This isn't normal.

Not a whole lot worse than being hit by a lightning bolt and surviving, though. Strange things are gonna happen from that.

"How are you here?" Echo asks, looking up at him.

"Same way you are," Fives answers with a shrug, "Like I said. I found my way home. Couldn't let you have all the fun without me."

Echo chokes on a laugh, tears spilling down his face. "Fives."

"I'm here," he promises, and Echo wants to reach for him but he knows this can't be right. This is Fives, but he's gone. "You just have to reach me. Take me home, Echo." There's a soft gentleness in his eyes, one so hauntingly familiar, but then his form flickers and fizzes out like a hologram. Echo dives forward, trying to touch him, to make him stay but his hand falls through nothing and he hits the ground on his knees again.

Alone.

The storm's back.

Purple electricity flickers and crackles over his body – maybe it should hurt, but it doesn't, and Echo doesn't care anymore.

He's alone again. Always alone.

Fives was here, he was real, and now he's gone.

Nothing's there to see his tears but the distant thunder as it rips apart the skies.

Final Notes: Reviews are always appreciated! ^-^

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