New armor but same brother (Summer of clones - week 3)
@summer-of-clones
Week theme: Downtime week
Main prompt: Late Night Talks
Alternate prompt: Armor Paint
Characters: Rex, Echo
Read here on Ao3
Echo didn't quite know where to begin. The last few days had been extremely busy, and this was the first time in almost a week that he had a little free time, and he didn't quite know what to do with it.
When he had “waked up” on Skako Minor, with Rex’s worried face in front of him and a team of strange clones in the room, it had taken Echo a little while to understand what was going on.
And immediately after that, they had to flee that cursed base by leaping into the void and landing on the backs of giant birds. Then they had to regroup with the rest of the GAR and devise a strategy to end the siege of Anaxes. Echo felt partly responsible for all the lives lost during this campaign. After all, it was his strategies that had allowed Wat Tambor and the Separatists to anticipate every move of the Republic armies. Even though it had all been against his will, Echo blamed himself.
And he wasn't the only one blaming himself, since he'd seen, from the looks some of the clones gave him, that others were also blaming him. And Echo couldn't blame them. He blamed himself too, and he was responsible, one way or another, for the deaths of their brothers, friends, and others. He understood the hatred directed at him, and it did nothing to improve his already low self-esteem.
With his body now more metal than flesh, more droid than human, a computer in his brain and half of his vital functions taken care of by machines, Echo had a hard time feeling human.
But fortunately for him, it wasn't just those who held him responsible for the losses on Anaxes; a significant number of clones were convinced of his innocence. And these clones were more vocal than his detractors, repeatedly telling Echo that he wasn't responsible for anything and that nothing was his fault; that he was as much a victim of the Separatists as the clones who died trying to retake Anaxes, perhaps even more so.
And his most ardent defender was none other than Rex. Rex, who, despite his responsibilities and his extremely busy schedule, spent as much time as possible with Echo.
Rex, who had stayed with Echo the whole time Kix and Tech were examining him to determine the state of his body's health.
Rex, who had spent several nights with Echo, reassuring him that he had indeed escaped from that hell.
Rex, who had held Echo in his arms and let him cry as much as he wanted when Echo learned that Fives had died during his captivity. Hardcase too. And Tup. And Dogma. And so many others whom Echo had loved like brothers.
And Rex who, despite his apparent desire to never let Echo go again, had suggested that he join Clone Force 99; that he join this group of strange clones who had rescued him from Skako Minor and with whom he got along rather well. Rex had suggested that Echo go with them even before Hunter made his proposal because he knew how different Echo was now and how affected he was by those differences.
He wasn't stupid, and Rex had seen the looks of disgust and heard the hateful whispers directed at Echo. And even though he'd intervened every time, severely reprimanding all those idiots, he knew he couldn't change their minds. And he had to face the facts: Echo would never be a regular clone again, and he'd have a very hard time reintegrating into the 501st. He would never be "normal" again. So joining Clone Force 99, a tight-knit, closed team already composed of "abnormal" clones, might be good for Echo.
And besides, Rex was getting to know Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, and Crosshair quite well, and he knew they would take good care of Echo. So that's why he had suggested this solution to Echo.
Echo had initially refused on principle. Of course not, he wasn't going to leave the 501st. They were his battalion, Rex was his Captain, it had always been that way and it always would be. But he had listened to Rex's arguments nonetheless, and he had to admit they weren't entirely without merit.
And perhaps with the Bad Batch, Echo would feel less pressure to return to normal as quickly as possible. The Bad Batch is a unit composed of defective clones, and Echo had become, against his will, a defective clone. He might as well stay with the other defective ones.
So that's why he'd accepted Hunter's offer. However, the Bad Batch was supposed to stay aboard the Resolute for a few more days before they set off on other adventures with Echo by their side. Tech was indeed in the process of making new legs for Echo, looking to replace the hideous droid parts the Techno Union had crammed into him with something more practical, less droid-like, and more comfortable.
But for that, he would also have to change his thigh implants, and Tech’s field of competence, as extensive as it was, didn’t include performing that type of surgery by himself. He had asked Kix for help, who was one of the few people Echo trusted to do such things. After being a mad scientist's guinea pig for over a year, Echo trusted very few people to operate on him or modify his body any further.
Kix, the 501st's CMO, who knew Echo and had looked after him since Echo joined the 501st, was among the few people Echo trusted. Tech, who had been part of the rescue team and had spent hours explaining to Echo what he planned to do and all the features of his new legs, had also earned a place on this list of trusted individuals.
So while waiting for Kix and Tech to operate on him to change his implants so he could have his new legs, the Bad Batch would remain on board the Resolute, to the despair of Crosshair, who hated the Regs.
One person who was happy about this extra time with his little brother, however, was Rex. The Bad Batch was a rather unpredictable mobile team that carried out a wide variety of missions, so it was almost impossible to know when Rex would see Echo again next.
So, despite his always busy schedule, Rex did his best to spend as much time as possible with Echo.
And in the middle of the afternoon, Rex had a few free hours, so he took advantage of this rather rare downtime to find Echo to spend some time with him.
He found his brother in the large hangar, near the Marauder, the Bad Batch's ship. A folding table had been set up next to the ramp, and from where he was, Rex couldn't really see what was on it. Echo was standing next to the table, looking at its contents, clearly focused or fixated on something.
Looking towards the Marauder, Rex quickly noticed Crosshair, positioned just above the ramp, cleaning his long-range rifle. Crosshair was clearly focused solely on what he was doing, but Rex saw him glance sideways at Echo, checking that everything was alright. Crosshair also looked up before Echo when Rex approached them, and the sniper gave him a barely perceptible nod before returning to his weapon.
Rex approached and saw that what was on the table was a suit of armor. It wasn't white like the Shiny's armor, but rather black, the same color as the other Batchers'. It had a few scratches and slight dents, signs that it had already been used, but was otherwise completely bare. On the table were also several pots of paint, brushes, and other such tools. Rex realized that Echo was painting his new armor.
Or at least that was the idea, since his brother was perfectly still, with furrowed brows and crossed arms, glaring holes in the new armor.
"What did this armor do to offend you, vod'ika?" Rex asked, approaching.
Echo jumped slightly, not having heard him arrive, and smiled slightly upon recognizing Rex.
"Rex." He nodded before turning back to the armor in question. "No, I just don't know where to start. Wrecker gave me this armor, and Crosshair brought out their paint, and they told me that now that I'm part of the team, I can't continue using the backup armor they lent me for Anaxes."
“Makes sense.” Rex shrugged. “And you don't know where to start?”
Echo sighed. "No. And besides, I'm not even sure I can do what I want." He added, frowning at his scomp, which now replaced his right hand.
“Well, it's a good thing I'm here in that case, isn’t it?”
"You would help me?" Echo asked, sounding surprised.
"Of course." Rex replied immediately. "If you think my hands are steady enough to do what you want, I'll gladly help you paint your new armor."
Echo didn't respond immediately before nodding. Rex gave him a reassuring smile before nodding in turn.
“Okay, let's start at the beginning. What colors do you want on your armor?”
“I think I'll stick with the same theme as the guys. So black and red. And maybe white for the details.”
“Okay. We can start with the base and add the details later.”
Rex and Echo then set about painting this new armor, with Rex helping his brother decide what he wanted to do by asking the right questions.
He had always known that Echo could sometimes struggle to make decisions, especially when the answer was as open-ended as what to put on his new armor. For his first armor, Echo had Fives by his side to help him think things through, but since his twin was sadly no longer there to do so, Rex took on that role with honor. He might not know Echo quite as intimately as Fives, but he knew him well enough to be able to help him make these decisions.
That's how the two brothers painted the shoulder pieces red and made a red stripe in the middle of his breastplate and on his left forearm guard.
“That's the base. I don't want to add too much either.” Echo declared, placing down the shoulder pad he had just painted.
Rex nodded, finishing the forearm guard.
"Now there are the details." Echo thought. "That's where I think I'll need you."
Rex nodded, assuring him that he was there and gave him a little time because he knew his brother needed it.
"Would you be able to make the Bad Batch’s skull?" Echo asked.
Rex thought for a moment but couldn't quite visualize the design. And just as he opened his mouth to say that, a datapad practically fell into his hands, open to a holo of the skull Echo had been talking about.
Rex blinked, startled by the unexpected appearance of the datapad, and heard Echo chuckle "Thanks, Cross." before refocusing on Rex as if nothing had happened.
Rex shook his head and a small smile crept across his lips. He knew Crosshair was paying more attention to them than he let on. He then examined the design in his hands.
“I can do that. Where, in what color and what size?”
Echo tapped the upper left part of the breastplate, right at heart level. “Here, in white and about the size of a small fist, I think.”
"Are you making a target for future snipers who want to pierce your heart?" Rex teased, grabbing a fine brush and a pot of white paint.
Echo shrugged. "If a sniper wants to shoot me, they doesn't need a target to find my heart. And if they do, they’re not a very good sniper and are not worthy of trying to kill me."
Rex did not respond to that and concentrated on what he was doing.
After the skull on the chest plate, Rex wrote the 99 of the Bad Batch on Echo's helmet, right in the middle.
After that, Echo looked at his armor with a satisfied but not entirely convinced expression. Something was clearly missing, and Echo had that look of someone who knew what he wanted but wasn't sure it was the right choice, or even that he had the right to make that choice.
"What do you want to add next?" Rex encouraged.
"I... I don't know if it's a good idea." Echo mumbled, biting his lip.
“Echo, I'm not going to repeat the whole speech about the importance of our armor paint; I know you remember it word for word. If it's important to you, put it on your armor, regardless of what others think. If you want to put it on, it's a good idea, whatever it is.”
Echo did not respond immediately but eventually nodded, determined.
He grabbed his left forearm guard, the red paint of which was already dry, and showed the part just under the band, on the inside of his wrist.
"Can you... Can you make a 5 here?" He asked in a low voice, visibly emotional.
Rex would be lying if he said his eyes didn't burn for a few seconds. But it wasn't the time, so he swallowed his tears and nodded.
"Of course." He readily agreed, tracing the simple number.
Echo watched Rex trace that 5, that tribute to his twin, and decided that Fives clearly wasn't the only one he had lost and wanted to honor. And since Echo didn't have much space on his armor, given that his legs wouldn't need it, since Tech was going to integrate the armor directly into his legs, Echo decided that this forearm guard would become his tribute to his brothers.
He then directed Rex to draw the comma-like shapes Hevy had gotten tattooed when they arrived on Rishi. He also requested a target for DroidBait and the head of one of Rishi's eels for Cutup. He also added a teardrop for Tup, a V for Dogma, and a line and a dot for Hardcase.
When Rex had finished all that, there was almost no empty space left on the piece of armor, but it didn't matter. At least when Echo looked at his arm, he would remember all the brothers he had loved and lost.
Echo looked at the forearm guard and nodded with satisfaction. His memorial was complete. There was one last thing he wanted to add to his armor, but he wasn't sure how to ask, or even if Rex would agree.
Rex saw this and simply raised an eyebrow to encourage his brother.
Echo took a breath before launching into action. “Can you… Can you redo your hand?”
Rex hadn't expected this. He hadn't expected that this gesture, made almost without thinking the first time they met on Rishi, would be so significant for Echo. And sure, when he was with the 501st, Echo had asked him to redo his hand every time he needed to repaint his armor, but now that Echo was leaving the 501st to join the Bad Batch, Rex hadn't expected him to want his mark again.
"It's okay if you don't want to do it." Echo quickly assured him, misinterpreting his silence. "I'd understand. I'm not even part of your battalion anymore. That was stupid, forget what I just said."
There was no way Rex was going to let Echo get away with it like that, especially since it was something he clearly wanted. "Where and what color?" He asked simply.
“It's okay Rex, you don't have to-”
"Where and what color?" Rex repeated.
Echo held his gaze for a few seconds before a small, shy smile appeared on his pale lips. “White and in the same place, please.”
Rex nodded and, without any hesitation, plunged his left hand into the white paint, then placed it on Echo's breastplate, on the right.
Echo then observed his armor, finally finished, and let a tear slide down his cheek, moved by this new chapter of his life that was opening.
Rex wiped the remaining paint residue from his hand and placed it on the younger man's shoulder.
Echo did not remain still for long and turned his head to rest it on the blond man's shoulder, seeking a comfort he rarely allowed himself.
Rex did not remain still and closed his arms around his little brother, gently hugging him. “Even if you’re no longer part of my battalion, you’ll always be my little brother.” Rex said softly. “And I’ll always be there for you, even if I’m on the other side of the galaxy. You have my comm number; I want you to call if you need anything, even if it’s just to complain about the missions you have to do. I promise I’ll always answer.”
“Even if it's the middle of the night for you?”
“I would answer in the middle of a battle for you, Ey'ika.”
"Please don't answer in the middle of a battle. I don't want you to get hit by a blaster bolt because I distracted you." Echo protested.
Rex scoffed before continuing. “Okay. Not on the battlefield. But otherwise, yes, I would always answer, even in the middle of the night. I love late-night talks with my little brothers.”
Echo nodded and stayed in Rex's arms for a little while longer before stepping back and looking at his big brother.
"You may have new armor and a new squad, but you're still Echo, my brother." Rex assured.
Echo nodded, relieved not to lose Rex at the same time as he lost the 501st.
Joining the Bad Batch was a good idea, and he knew it—much better than staying with his original battalion—but he couldn't deny he'd miss Rex. He was reassured, though; Rex apparently wanted to forget him just as much as Echo did, which is to say, not at all, so it would be fine.
Even though they were on opposite sides of the galaxy, they always had each other's support.
