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technical devotion, part four: call to action

content warnings: none :)

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Kan could hear somebody rapping on the door from inside her headphones.

“One moment” She called, stepping through the ever-growing mess that was her office.

“Oh hey Rex, what can I do for you?” Kan smiled up at the Captain.

“Hey Kan” He smiled, leaning against the doorframe with crossed arms, “I was just thinking about this upcoming mission, Senator Organa said you have you have some field experience, is that right?”

“Oh, well yes, I do. I have medic training as well” She replied, slightly cautious.

“Hm” Rex stroked his chin in thought, “We might need you to step into the field for this one. It would be just you and Echo, does that sound like something you could be up for?”

“Yeah, of course Captain, whatever you need”

“Okay” He smiled, “Well there's actually another mission that could possibly use your help with, so we'll see what Echo thinks and plan from there”

Kan nodded and followed him as he returned to the command centre, finding Echo already in there, leaning over the central holotable. He stood up straight as he saw Kan enter behind Rex, and she smiled at him as she always did. Echo made no move to return the warm gesture, instead his face painted with confusion.

“Echo, I’m thinking of sending Kan with you on this one” Rex spoke up.

“Is that really necessary?” Echo retorted, no hostility in his words though Kan certainly saw it that way, trying hard to hide her hurt.

“She could really streamline the whole process, and besides, she may be able to think of another way that we haven’t considered” Rex replied, a little short with his brother as he noted his unnecessary angst towards the Mirialan. Kan was pleased to see that at least Rex had faith in her. She enjoyed his company and found him to be an incredibly effective leader, a commanding presence that still felt kind.

Echo just looked at Kan, his regular blank stare piercing her. Though from his perspective, his mind was running wild. He was eternally frustrated at himself for the way he found himself acting around Kan, drawn to her but keeping his walls up. Echo was well aware that she was displeased with him, particularly now as he could see the dejected look on her face. He knew she liked to be useful in any way she could, even at the expense of herself.

“If you dont think it's going to work I'll send her off to Corellia with Howzer, he could really do with-”

“No” Echo said quickly, “It's fine, you're right, she would be useful”

Kan felt incredibly awkward, feeling as if she had interrupted a domestic of some sort, and because they were both speaking as if she wasn't stood right there.

“So…” She stepped forwards tentatively, “What’s the mission?

Rex brought up the map, “This is Haidoral Prime, mid-rim, there’s an imperial facility here that we believe is transmitting something to the planet that you found out about, where they’re sending clones”

Kan stepped up to the table beside Rex, “And what are our orders?”

Echo was slightly taken aback by the shift in her presence. She suddenly became strikingly military in her disposition, a seriousness that felt strange to see on her features. Echo once again felt drawn to her, finding this other side of her personality equally as alluring.

“I originally intended on Echo going in and just stopping the transmission, trying to find out whatever it was they were transmitting, but now I'm thinking that maybe…” Rex paused, “Is there anyway you could reroute the transmission?”

Kan's eyes flicked about the map projected above the holotable, her teeth subltely gnawing at her bottom lip as she seemed to be deep in thought.

“Permission to speak freely sir?”

“Yeah Kan of course” Rex almost chuckled at her professionalism.

“I believe a different approach would serve us better. I could easily reroute the transmission, but the Empire would surely catch on soon enough. Instead… It would take longer but… I could possibly find a way to duplicate the transmission. That way, the Empire would still be receiving the transmission, but so would we. I would of course make sure that the transmission to this base was undetectable and untraceable, create a path that made no sense and seemed like a mistake if discovered, but that still leaves the issue of the Empire receiving the information” Kan chewed on her lip once more, “Perhaps there is a way to corrupt the signal on their transmission, something that would wear it down over time, so that they don't suspect any foul play”

“You could do that?” Rex asked, glad he asked Kan to join this mission.

“Certainly, though… it would take me quite a bit of time, and I don't know what kind of tech they're working with. Do you know anything about the number of troopers they might have in there?”

“No, we have no idea” Rex sighed locking his hands behind his head.

“In that case…” Kan started, looking to Rex for conformation that she still had the floor, and he nodded, “I see there being two options, one of which is probably the obvious answer, but that's up to you Captain. First is, Echo goes ahead with the original plan by himself” She spoke confidently and looked at Echo for the first time in the exchange, noting his slightly awestruck look.

“The second is that we go in more than once. The first time purely to get an idea of the tech they're using and how I can replicate the signal. Then I'll need to go away and have some time to figure everything out, then the second time would be to actually input the changes” Kan said, then her confidence retreated a little, “I understand how that is a lot more effort and it may just be more worth it to disable it and have done”

Rex sighed deeply, “It would be a lot harder but… You're right, that could really give us an edge”. He paused for another moment, running over everything Kan had said in his mind, “Alright, I say we go for it. Echo?” He looked to his brother.

Echo was still looking at Kan, but his eyes flicked to his brother as he adressed him, “What?”

“What do you think?” Rex asked.

“About what?”

Rex gave him a confused look, “About going ahead with Kan's plan”

“Right, um” Echo looked to Kan and then back to Rex, “Yeah, it sounds like a good idea, I think we should go for it”

“Okay” Rex still eyed Echo suspciously, “It's going to take a little more planning then. Kan, I suggest you go and pack your tools now”

“On it” She nodded and quickly exited the room.

Rex turned to Echo, “What's the matter with you?”

“Nothing” Echo said, a hint of a sigh seeping through.

Rex just watched him for a moment, almost immediately coming to the right conclusion for his actions and sighing deeply. “For kriff sake Echo” He said with a slightly disbelieving laugh, “Look, just keep it professional for this mission okay?”

“What? I didn-”

Rex put up a hand to interrupt him, “I'm not interested in discussing this right now. Go and see if she can still shoot and I'll draw up this plan”

Echo ground his jaw in quiet defiance of what Rex was claiming without using the words, and Rex watched him amusedly as he left the room with a slump in his shoulders.

Kan stepped out onto the the tarmac, her bag slung across her chest and resting on her hip. She looked around for Echo, who had requested that she meet him for something before they left for their mission.

The prospect of going on a mission with Echo was exciting to Kan for a number of reasons. For one, going into the field in itself was something that she had missed greatly, and she felt entirely more useful for being so involved in foiling the Empire. She was also determined to break through whatever wall Echo continuously put up with her, and there was perhaps no better time than a mission where they were alone. She hoped that she could prove her usefulness and gain his trust in completing this mission efficiently and successfully.

Kan heard her name called and snapped her head to the left, where she saw Echo standing with a blaster at his side.

“I’m going to teach you how to use a blaster” Echo said as Kan approached him, and she realised that there were three targets set up a short distance from them.

Kan came to a stop in front of him and tilted her head to the side with a small laugh, “I know how to shoot, Echo”

“You do?” He replied, eyebrows raising slightly. He was sure that Rex had said she couldn't, but maybe he had been a little distracted at the time.

“Mhm” Kan said, clasping her hands behind her back, a small bounce in her toes.

Echo looked over her amused expression and bit back his own smirk, feeling almost exhilarated under her undivided attention. He held out the blaster in his hand, letting it hang on his first finger.

“Show me what you're made of then” He challenged, and Kan smirked as she took the blaster from him.

Kan stepped up to the mark, and took a deep breath, centering herself as she looked at the targets that had been set up. Echo watched closely, monitoring her form. She then swiftly brought up the blaster and fired off three rounds, hitting each mark perfectly. Echo raised his eyebrows, impressed and noting technique almost indistinguishable from his own.

“Wow, I'm honestly impressed I hit all of them. It’s been a while” Kan chuckled, lowering the blaster to her side.

“Where did you learn to do that?” Echo asked.

“Oh, um, you know… here and there” Kan said a little awkwardly.

Echo didn't take Kan as someone who kept secrets, usually seeming so open and happy to talk, but he didn't pry. If she didn't want to tell him then that was her business, not that the thought didn't gnaw at him anyway.

“Your form is good, exactly how they taught us in the GAR” He noted, seeing her stiffen minutely.

“Heh, yeah… cool” Kan said, handing Echo's blaster back to him and adjusting her bag across her chest a little. Echo watched her tense movements for a moment more, but quickly moved on.

“We can get going soon. I thought that was going to take longer to be honest” Echo said, a small smirk playing on his lips.

“Wow. What did I do to make you have so little faith in me?” Kan pouted in jest, then quickly matched his subtle smirk.

Echo just shrugged and holstered his blaster, moving away towards the ship they would be taking on the mission. Kan followed after him, and they climbed the ramp up into the ship. It was a modest size; two seats in the cockpit and a moderate hull, with a small refresher and bunk through two doors at the back.

“This is your ship?” Kan asked, turning to look at Echo as he sat down in the pilot's seat.

“More or less. I don't think anyone else uses it” He replied, powering up the ship.

“It's nice” Kan muttered, more to herself than anything.

The journey to Haidoral Prime was a few standard hours underway, and Echo had said all but 5 words to Kan the entire time. She opted to sit on the counter of the kitchenette in the hull, her fingers drumming against the surface as she chewed on her lip, thinking of something to say.

Kan had always got along with people quite easily. She was friendly and liked to form connections, however shallow, with everyone she came across. Echo's determination to meet her friendliness with some form of quiet animosity was starting to wear her down a little bit, and at this point, she just wanted to come right out and say how she felt about it.

“Echo?” Kan said, her voice no more timid than usual, despite the unfamiliar flurry of anxiety in her gut. Echo turned to look at her and saw her fiddling with her fingers in her lap. “Can we talk?”

“What's up?” He turned his seat to face her, leaning forward onto his knee.

“I'm just wondering…” Kan chose her words carefully, “It feels like you don't really enjoy my company very much and… Well, is there a way that I can make you more comfortable around me?”

Echo immediately frowned. “That's not true, I-” He started but the words got stuck in his throat.

“You don't have to like me I suppose, but if it's something I've done or something I'm doing then I'd like to know” Kan said assuredly.

“I-” Echo said, swallowing and forming his sentence before he spoke, “I do like you, and I enjoy your company. I'm sorry if it seems otherwise”

Kan’s lips quirked into a small smile. “Oh” She said simply, “Could've fooled me”

Echo let out a small laugh, suddenly feeling a tad insecure about himself, “Yeah, I guess I'm not as outgoing as some of the others”

“That's okay” Kan smiled, jumping down from the counter and walking up to the cockpit. She looked around all of the controls and couldn't stop herself from grinning.

“Who did all the upgrades in here?”

Echo was immediately bashful under the scrutiny of a proper technician, “Uh, I did"

“Right” Kan nodded.

Echo watched nervously as she took in his adjustments, waiting for her to say anything more, but she didn't.

“Is that a good ‘right’ or a bad one?” He asked, an amused smile being sent in his direction.

“Mostly good, I wouldn't have done the phaser like that, but if it works it works” She said, pointing behind Echo.

He turned and looked at the piece, then back up to Kan who was now leaning on the back of his chair, her face startlingly close to his.

“How would you have done it?” He asked, holding her eye contact despite feeling his palms become clammy as he did.

“You've got some wires crossed” Kan pointed, and he followed her finger as she somehow drew even closer towards him. “It's nothing that would cause problems of course, but if you're going to cross wires there are ways that would make it run more efficiently. I can do it for you after this mission if you like?” She suggested, looking down to Echo once more.

As he found her eyes again, their faces mere inches apart, he felt as if his throat had dried up completely, leaving him unable to speak. Instead, he nodded slowly, and his breathing became shallow as he noticed the small flecks of gold in her otherwise deep green eyes. Kan could see Echo's eyebrows had relented from the small frown they always held, his eyes brighter than she'd seen before. The sight made her heart stutter, and she realised how truly close she was to him when she felt his breath fan over her face.

Kan moved away with a shy smile, muttering an apology and completely unaware of the effect she had just had on Echo. The moment was mere seconds, but to Echo, it had felt like minutes, hours even, and he blinked a few times as Kan began talking about something, not fully able to register her words.

technical devotion, part five: objective

content warnings: elusions to violence

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Kan placed down her bag at the end of the bed she would be staying in for that night. She opened it up and took out the few tools she would be taking with her on the mission, and slipped them into a pouch on her belt, looking up to meet Echo's gaze.

“Ready?” He asked.

“As I'll ever be” She replied with a smile.

The weather on Haidoral Prime left much to be desired. The rain that endlessly poured from the sky smelled distinctly unpleasant, like something acidic, sharp. Kan threw on her waterproof poncho as protection as her and Echo made their way through town and towards the imperial facility.

Up until this point, Kan had never seen Echo in his full armour, and particularly not with his helmet on. She had to admit that the design fascinated her, but realised that it was probably best to ask him about it after the mission was complete.

Echo took the lead, having had the time to study the layout of the small settlement. He made sure to keep close to walls to hide their movements, even if they were under the cover of darkness. They came to a stop at the edge of town, the imperial facility just a short distance away.

“There's a vent up there” Echo pointed, “Just big enough for us to fit in”

“How are we getting up there?”

“I'll give you a boost, and then you can pull me up”

Kan looked up at the vent and back to Echo, “I'm not sure I'm strong enough"

“Sure you are, it's not too high”

“Okay, if you say so”

With that, Echo moved out, Kan close behind him, and they sprinted to the outer wall of the compound. They waited as a patrol passed around the corner and out of their sight, and then Echo locked his hands together, positioning them on his knee. Kan placed her boot into his gloved fingers, finding a good positioning as she looked up at her destination.

“Alright, do it” She spoke quietly.

Echo counted down and then launched Kan upwards, coming to rest under her in case she fell back. Luckily, her fingers found purchase on the vent ledge, and she hung on with one hand as she quietly unscrewed the outer cover. The screws dropped down as they came loose, and Kan cursed quietly as the hood of her poncho fell backwards, exposing her to the unpleasant weather conditions. Shortly after, Kan offered the covering down to Echo, who caught it when she dropped it down to him. He looked back up to her as she curled her arms up, pulling herself inside the vent.

Echo waited patiently, keeping an eye on his surroundings, as Kan manoeuvred herself around and held out her arm down for him to grab. He wasted no time in jumping upwards, his fingers wrapping around her forearm. Kan dug her heels into the edge of the vent, pulling him up with all the effort she could muster. He quickly grabbed onto the edge of the vent, and Kan fell back, taking a deep breath. Echo climbed up into the vent and took his helmet off for a moment to rid it of some of the foul-smelling rain, simultaneously taking in the sight of Kan laid out and breathing heavily.

“See, easy” He said quietly.

Kan looked up to see a mocking smirk on his face, “I'm glad to see one of us is having fun”

Echo then brought a finger to his lips, his smirk still evident as he shushed her. Kan just rolled her eyes, her lazy smile once again making an appearance as she rolled over onto her front and began crawling through the vent. Echo fixed his helmet back onto his head and kept his eyes down as he followed after her.

After a few minutes, Kan came to a stop and turned as much as she could to show Echo that there was a way down below them. He nodded, and Kan brought her datapad from the pouch on her hip, scanning for life forms. When she was satisfied they would not be caught, she carefully opened the hatch and dropped down, Echo following suit.

Kan quickly made her way over to the door panel nearby, taking a cable from her belt and hooking her datapad up to it. Echo stood guard as she did so, making sure no one was coming.

“Got it” She mumbled, taking back her cable, opening the schematics of the building. She looked over the maps, letting out a quiet curse at the information she found.

“What is it?” Echo turned to her and then to her datapad, looking over the plans.

“Comms is on the other side of the building” She pointed to the point on the map of the building.

“Kriff” He said quietly, a hum of agreement coming from Kan.

“We can continue via the vents, though it will take longer”

Echo sighed, “Probably our best bet. We won't be able to come back later if we go in guns a-blazing now”

“I agree sir”

Echo looked to Kan with an utterly confused, yet amused expression.

“Did you just call me sir?” He whispered to her.

Kan's gaze met the visor of Echo's helmet, “Uh- yeah, is that not…?” She trailed off, staying professional though her face felt like it was on fire, “Right, sorry, my bad. Let's get going”

Kan slotted her datapad back into its pouch and jumped up to the vent, grabbing a hold of it and pulling herself up with reasonable ease. Echo just shook his head at the interaction, moving on and hauling himself into the vent behind her, closing it after himself.

It took almost 15 minutes, but the pair of them made it as far as they could in the vents, and Kan had begun sweating profusely at the heated temperature inside. Echo was luckier, his blacks being thermoregulated and allowing him to stay cool aside from the small sliver of skin between the top of his blacks and his helmet.

Kan pulled her datapad and scanned for life forms, the device not reading anything. She motioned to Echo that the coast was clear, and she opened the hatch. This time, the hatch was at the top of a wall rather than in the ceiling, so Kan took extra care not to make any noise as she let the covering hang down against it.

She began to shuffle forwards, but Echo's heart started beating out of his chest as he heard footsteps. It was too late for Kan to slowly shuffle back, so Echo took drastic action, lurching forwards and grabbing her by the waist with his one hand, hauling her back into the vent. He reached ahead of her and hooked his scomp into the vent cover, bringing it back into place as quietly as he could.

Echo’s hand stayed resting on Kan's bare abdomen beneath her poncho, and the two of them held their breaths as a group of imperials passed them by, none the wiser. Echo was so painfully aware of the position that he had put Kan in, he couldn't ignore it even if he tried. He was on top of her, her back pressed flat against his front and breathing right into her ear in shaky breaths. He tried to lift himself off of her as much as he could, but in the confines of the vent, he didn't get far. He kept himself focused, blocking out any unwanted thoughts at the proximity.

Kan, however, was finding it exceedingly difficult to stop her mind from wandering. She already knew she felt somewhat drawn to Echo, but the modulated sound of his breathing in her ear was driving her insane. She was blushing deeply at the intimacy of their position, especially when Echo brushed his thumb gently across her stomach almost imperceptibly. She had to suppress a shiver, fearing moving at all in this position.

“I'm sorry” Echo whispered, slowly edging backwards as the noise of the imperials had passed them by.

“Dont be. Thank you” Kan spoke breathlessly.

She looked back at him, and Echo's heart leapt to his throat at the sight of her. Her hair was stuck to her forehead in a mixture of rain and sweat, her cheeks were a darkened shade of green, and her eyes were blown wide and swimming with something that Echo dared not define, particularly in this position. He was eternally gratefully for his helmet in that moment so that Kan couldn't see his slack jaw and bright red cheeks.

Kan scurried from his grasp and quickly made her way out of the vent. Echo shook his head violently, focusing himself on the task at hand once more, and followed her lead.

The room they were heading towards was undoubtedly going to be guarded, so they closely hugged the walls as they made the short distance there. Kan came to a stop around the corner from the entrance and took a peek, then turned back to Echo.

“Just two guards, I've got this” She spoke assuredly, setting her blaster to stun

Before Echo could even argue, Kan stepped out and fired two rounds, and he heard the guards drop to the floor. He looked at her perfect form, a domineering confidence about her, and had to remind himself to breathe. He laid his back against the wall, still somewhat reeling from their close encounter before, and tried to quiet his mind. When he saw Kan take off her poncho out of the corner of his eye, he gulped. Maker, get ahold of yourself.

“Echo!” Kan hissed from down the hall, and he snapped back into it, quickly rounding the corner and catching up with her.

The communication room was empty, and Kan immediately got to work unscrewing the front panel from the main console. She looked over the inner workings of the machine and mumbled some things to herself. She brought her datapad out from its pouch, took a few photos, and then put the panel back. She then hooked her datapad up to the console and searched for any possibly useful files first of all.

“There's nothing but the transmission” She muttered, then brought her datapad closer to her face, looking over the information, “The signal is definitely going to the prison”

Kan and Echo had managed to retrieve any necessary information for Kan to figure out how to replicate the signal without any issues, and they were now back at their motel. Kan was knelt at the end of her bed, resting her forehead on it and looking down at her datapad, making calculations that Echo had no clue the meaning of. He couldn't help but chuckle at her posture, and he realised that her strange sitting habits were more or less a quirk of hers.

Kan looked up upon hearing Echo's amused huff, “What?”

“You sure sit in some funny positions” He mused, and she let out a small laugh herself and rubbed the back of her neck, sitting back on her heels.

“Yeah I guess I do, I just go with whatever makes me get the work done really”

“I don't think I'd get any work done like that” He said as he sat down on his own bed, beginning to take off his armour.

“Whatever, to each their own” She rolled her eyes and looked back down to her work. It wasn't the first time someone had commented on her less-than-regular sitting habits.

“Indeed” Echo replied.

Kan looked up again to see that Echo had stripped down to his blacks. She chewed her cheek a little, “Are you turning in?”

“Yeah, you should too, you have all of tomorrow to figure that out”

“Yeah, I'll finish up soon” She smiled, and Echo laid down on his bed, turning away.

“Goodnight Echo” Kan offered, and he smiled to himself.

“Night Kan"

Echo awoke and rubbed his hand over his face sleepily. He sat up in his bed and saw that the moon was still spilling through the curtains, not the sun. He sighed. He was a painfully light sleeper nowadays.

Before his brush with the Techno Union, he slept wonderfully. Every night, he was out like a light and relished in a good long sleep after a particularly rough campaign. However now, since being rescued from Skako Minor, he woke up constantly throughout the night. It was frustrating, to know from his own experience how blissful sleep could be, only to never be able to find any peace in the action anymore.

Echo looked over to Kan's bed and saw that it was still made, untouched and clearly having not been used at all. He frowned and looked around the rest of the small room, not finding Kan anywhere. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and rose to his feet, taking the few steps towards the refresher door and knocking firmly. When he got no answer, he opened up the door and she wasn't in there either.

A panic rose in Echo's gut, and he stalked around the room, trying to calm himself and think rationally. There's no way someone could have taken her with me in here, I would have woken up. She's probably just taking a walk or something.

He kept running through his thoughts, but his eyes caught on something, or rather, nothing. Her bag and tools were gone. Has she left? In the middle of a mission? That seemed to be an impossibility to Echo, but the idea bounced around in his head nonetheless.

It was an hour before Kan returned, and Echo was beside himself. When he heard the door zip open, he whirled around, relief seeping into his body as he looked upon Kan’s soaked silhouette.

“Where have you been?” Echo asked urgently, striding over to meet her at the door.

Kan was taken aback, not expecting to find him awake. “Um, I went back. I completed the mission” She let a small smile creep onto her face at the admission.

“What?” He asked, his voice raised slightly in exasperation. He waited for her to say she was joking or anything else, but she stood looking at him in all seriousness. “That was reckless! You shouldn't have gone in without backup!”

Kan said nothing, her high from completing the mission coming crashing down at Echo's accusatory tone. She tried to keep her expression impassive, but the soft crease in her brow was betraying her. Echo noticed it almost immediately, and his own demeanour softened.

“I'm sorry, just- Kriff, when are you going to stop worrying me all the time?” He said, turning away and mumbling under his breath.

“What do you-”

“Nothing, ignore me” He waved a hand to dismiss her prying. He took a seat on his bed and relaxed his posture, feeling like he could relax now, knowing that Kan was safe.

Kan took off her bag and poncho, and approached timidly, sitting opposite him on her own bed, the first time she had touched it.

“I'm sorry if I worried you, Echo. I intended to be back before you woke up” She said quietly.

“Yeah well I dont sleep so well” He replied, a traceable amount of animosity in his tone.

Kan didn't really know what was appropriate to say and just settled on what seemed like the most obvious to her, “Why not?”

Echo looked up and met her eyes, her soft and gentle gaze watching him with no scrutiny, only genuine interest.

“I dont know, I just don't” He lied, something he'd never been good at, and Kan definitely picked up on it, though she didn't press. Echo sat back against the wall, crossing one leg over the other as he lay on his bed.

For a moment, they were both silent, and Echo realised his heart was still beating fast from the unease of Kan being missing. He couldn't quite understand why it had affected him so, but he assured himself that it was just because he felt Kan had a particular innocent friendliness about her that people could take advantage of. Nothing more.

“So… you did it? You doubled the signal?” He asked.

“Yeah, it wasn't too hard, just took a bit of time. I've rigged it so that their signal will break down eventually, so they shouldn't notice anything for a while” Kan laid down on her side and propped herself up on her elbow.

Echo mirrored her, sliding down the bed to meet her gaze, “Have you ever done anything like that before?”

“No” She said quickly, now struggling to hold back how excited she felt about it, “I've gotta say I found it pretty fun”

Echo smirked at the childish wonder in her eyes, “I can tell”

Kan rolled her eyes and flopped onto her back, looking up at the ceiling with a wide smile. She let out a deep breath, the bed was a lot softer than the bunk at base.

“Can I ask you about your armour?” Kan asked out of the blue.

“Uh, yeah” Echo said hesitantly, “What do you want to know?”

“How come it's… different from the rest of the clones?”

Echo was a little apprehensive, but he was beginning to understand that Kan was just inquisitive.

“I was part of a spec ops team” he admitted.

“No way” Kan rolled back over to face him.

Echo's breath hitched as her eyes locked with his again. He couldn't deny that she looked absolutely beautiful, her back illuminated by the light of the moon and dark hair spilling over her shoulders and waist.

“Yeah, I wasn't always, but I joined them towards the end of the war” He spoke before he could dwell on the flurry of feelings in his chest.

“What division was it?” Kan asked eagerly.

“Uh… Clone Force 99” Echo answered, though he wasn't sure it would really mean anything to her.

However, Kan's eyes lit up, “Woah, yeah, I heard about you guys”

“You did?” Echo raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Kan realised her familiarity was showing and pulled back a bit, “Yeah, I mean, you were known by a lot of people before the war ended”

Echo nodded, “I guess yeah”

“Wait, so you're like… genetically enhanced?”

“No. Like I said, I joined them later on” Echo replied, laying down on his back.

“Right, cool”

Kan desperately wanted to ask how he ended up with his cybernetic limbs, and if that's what landed him a place on the team, but she recognised it wasn't her place, and his reaction to her last comment had not been received particularly well. Something about Echo really interested her, and she just wanted to understand him and pick his brains about anything and everything.

She instead stood up and grabbed her sleep clothes from her bag, and went to the refresher to get changed. When she reentered the room, she made her way straight to her bed and slipped under the covers, revelling in the softness that she hadn't felt in so long.

Kan felt sleep gripping her quickly, her mind tired from the day's work, but she heard Echo speak through her hazy state.

“Kan?”

“Yeah?”

“Well done, for completing the mission. It's an impressive feat, you should be proud of yourself"

Kan smiled broadly in the dark, “Thanks Echo”

She only wished that he would've said that he was proud of her. I suppose we're not there yet.

technical devotion, part six: visitors

content warnings: none :)

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“Pliars please”

Kan held her hand out, and Echo placed the requested tool into it. The pair were sat in near silence as Kan worked under the control panel in Echo's ship.

Kan felt that she had broken through a small barrier with Echo. It had been a few days since they got back from their mission on Haidoral Prime, and she had noticed that he now seemed to be more open to spending time with her, even if he didn't say much while he did it. She was just glad that he wasn't avoiding her like the plague anymore.

Echo didn't mean to be so quiet around Kan, but something about her made him lose all ability to speak, to think. He couldn't form a coherent thought around her, let alone speak it aloud, and it was beginning to annoy him.

“So… I overheard Rex saying that your old squad were coming around here soon” Kan tried to spark up a bit of conversation.

“Yeah, should be here anytime now” Echo replied.

Kan nodded, even though the action was obstructed from Echo's view.

“What are they like?”

“Uh…” Echo didn't really know how to answer the question, “They're… different from the rest of the clones”

“How so?”

Echo could never get used to Kan's simple inquisitive nature, but he also couldn't get enough of it.

“I don't know how to describe them, they’re all very different from each other as well”

“Hm, sounds intriguing. Hydrospanner please”

Echo obliged, “Yeah, they're certainly that”

Just then, as if they had been summoned by the topic of conversation, the sound of a ship entering the hangar filled their ears.

“Screwdriver please” Kan held her hand out, but didn't feel the tool being placed into it. She looked out from under the control panel and saw that Echo was no longer there. Kan let out a huff, and reached for the tool herself, a string of unimpressed noises escaping her lips. She finished up with the Phaser rewiring, screwing the cover back into place, and slipped out.

Kan took a rag that was slung over the back of the pilot's seat and wiped her forehead as she stepped out of the ship, her eyes immediately catching the joyous scene of reunion across the hangar.

It was hard for Kan to look away from the Bad Batch's table at lunch time. Though, it wasn't the batch she was looking at, it was Echo.

His eyes were lit up in a way she had never seen, his smile fixed on his face and laughing with his squad, and she thought it was the most wonderful sight. She had seen him smile, but never like this. She almost felt jealous that they could illicit this response from him, and found herself watching intently to find out how she could replicate it herself, not that she garnered much information that way.

She caught herself completely drooling over the sight when Echo looked in her direction. She looked away immediately and sat up straight, taking her hand away from where she had been resting her head in it. She cursed the heat that she could feel creeping up the back of her neck.

Echo looked over at her extremely puzzled, wondering why she had been watching him so intently. He assumed that she was interested in the clones surrounding him, since she had taken an interest in them before, and he left it at that, joining in the conversation again.

Kan didn’t have any other tasks to be getting on with at the moment, so she was listening in on an Imperial comm channel with the device she had made. They used a lot of code names, so it was generally quite hard to decipher, but there were always those who would let protocol slip every now and then. She let out a small sigh as the signal cut out once again, and an even bigger one when it didn’t come back at all this time. With a grunt, she rose to her feet and headed outside to check out the satellite dish.

She could immediately see that it had come out of place and an even bigger sigh escaped her lips. How do I even get up there? She walked around the hangar and found nothing of use, so reluctantly took herself off to the command room, and knocked timidly on the door.

“Come in” She heard Rex shout, and she opened the door.

“Hey Rex, sorry to disturb you, the satellite’s come out of place. Is there a ladder or anything like that around here?”

“Uh…” He thought for a moment, “There should be one in the store cupboard just outside the hangar”

Didn’t know that was there, “Alright, thanks” She smiled gratefully and went and found the ladder.

It was a particularly rickety old thing, and not straight by any stretch of the imagination. Kan felt a little bit scared going up it, but once she was at the top, she felt more in control. Fixing the satellite dish would be easy, it would just take a bit of time doing it by herself.

The ladder swayed with each small change of the wind, and Kan was starting to regret even bothering with it. As she was making one of the final adjustments, reaching around the dish a little more, the ladder began to tip over, and this time Kan was sure she was going down.

“Woah there!” She heard someone call out, and she realised she had stopped tipping to the side. She cast a glance over her shoulder and saw a man - a clone, one of Echo’s squad - holding the base of the ladder. He was the shortest of the group, and wore a bandana over his long hair and blackout face tattoo. Kan finished her final adjustment and quickly scurried down the precarious ladder.

“Thanks for that, I’m Kan” She smiled broadly at him and held out her hand.

“Hunter” He shook it, reflecting her expression back to her, “You must be the technician that Echo told us about”

“Echo told you about me?” Kan raised her eyebrows. She had got little indication that Echo really liked her all that much, so it honestly surprised her that he’d mention her to his squad.

Hunter supressed a smirk at her reaction, “Only good things, don’t worry”

Kan laughed at that, and her gaze shifted when she saw the rest of the squad gathered in the distance. She saw that Echo was watching the two of them, a particularly prominent frown creasing his brow, and offered him a kind smile. His gaze softened marginally, but he was still watching intently.

“Alright, well I should get on” She gestured inside, though nothing desperate was really calling for her attention.

“Why don't you come say hi to everyone? I know Omega was interested in meeting you” Hunter suggested.

“Uh…” Kan hesitated. She was not great in big groups, but she also didn’t want to be rude and decline the offer.

“They don't bite” Hunter added with a small grin, sensing her slightly raised heartrate and the small bead of sweat that broke out from her hairline.

Kan laughed nervously, “Okay then”

Hunter led her over to his brothers as they chatted amongst themselves, and she stood next to Echo. She looked up to him and softly spoke with a smile, “Hey”

“Hey” He replied equally as soft, smiling back at her to try and ease her obvious nervousness, then he turned back to the group, “Omega, this is Kan”

Kan recognised the small blonde girl from watching their reunion in the hangar, and her eyes lit up when she looked to the Mirialan in front of her.

“You're the technician? Echo didn't say you were a girl” Omega gushed, seeming entirely pleased by the fact.

“Heh, yeah that's me” Kan replied, a small grin spreading across her face at the expression of wonder on the young girl’s face.

“Can I see your office? Echo promised me I could see it”

“I didn't promise any-”

“Of course” Kan smiled, “it's very messy though”

“I don't care about that” Omega said matter-of-factly, and grabbed Kan's arm, dragging her towards the compound.

“Omega!” Echo called after her sternly, but Kan just laughed delightedly, looking back at him, and his furrowed brow relieved a little as he watched them go.

“Oh Echo” Hunter chuckled, patting him on the shoulder.

Echo turned to see his amused expression, “What?”

“We leave you for a couple months and you've already found a girl?” Hunter raised an amused eyebrow at his brother.

“What? No! Don’t be ridiculous” Echo denied the claim, shaking his head.

“Oh yeah, how ridiculous of you to like a pretty girl” Crosshair sneered, smirking as he placed a fresh toothpick between his teeth.

“Aw, good on you Echo” Wrecker crushed his shoulders in a side hug, but Echo pushed him off immediately.

“It's not like that, she’s just a… colleague” He glared at his brothers, who all looked at him with matching smirks.

“Whatever you say” Hunter taunted, and walked off in the same direction that Omega had dragged Kan. Echo just rolled his eyes and followed after him, making their way to Kan’s office.

“And that there is the tuner, and you can see on the screen where the signal is coming from”

The two clones stepped into the doorway of Kan's office and saw her and Omega crouched by the transmission interception device.

“That's so cool, did you make this all by yourself?” Omega asked with wide eyes.

“Yeah, I did” Kan smiled, “Are you interested in this kind of stuff?”

“Yeah, my brother Tech taught me a lot of things, but I'm still learning”

Kan noted the use of past tense and the heaviness of her tone, “Well he certainly sounds cool, I can teach you some stuff too if you like?”

“Yes please!” She grinned, and Kan opened up the back panel of the machine

“This is where everything connects, you see that there? That's the main power source, and this bit connects to the satellite, which is how it's able to pick up the signals”

“How do you know where to connect the wires?”

“Let me show you” She grabbed another motherboard and started walking Omega through it, and Echo couldn't help but stare at her in adoration at the way she interacted with his sister.

“So… you said you didn't like this girl?” Hunter said quietly, gaining Kan's attention momentarily. Echo just sent him a stern look, but it was met with a knowing smirk, “Let's leave them to it” He patted his shoulder, moving away. Echo looked back to Kan who was once again teaching Omega about the connections, and comparing with the already completed device. He smiled to himself and walked down the hall after his brother.

Omega and Kan walked into the mess together at dinner time, still engrossed in conversation about anything and everything technical. Omega was definitely the most inquisitive person that Kan had met in a while, and she was enthralled about it. She loved to talk about her work, and to be able to impart any sort of knowledge to someone else made her feel extremely accomplished.

After the two of them collected their food, Kan tried to say goodbye and make her way over to her regular table, but Omega wasn't having it.

“Come sit with us” She said with pleading eyes.

“Oh, I don't want to impose”

“You wont” She smiled sweetly, “I know Echo would like it if you did”

Kan looked over to the table and saw Echo watching her once again. “Alright then” She said, and allowed herself to be dragged over by Omega.

She approached the table feeling a little sheepish and unsure of herself, and took the free place between Wrecker and Omega. Everyone else at the table were already entrenched in conversation, so Kan tried talking to the large clone beside her.

“We haven't been properly introduced, it's Wrecker, right?”

“That's me” He smiled happily

“It's nice to meet you”

“You too, clever lady” He took her in a crushing side hug, and she grinned up at him, feeling more at ease in the group.

The clones joked and laughed together over the course of dinner, as Omega continued to ask Kan questions about her work, completely enamoured by the inner workings of her brain and her profession.

“What's this? Have the Bad Batch stolen our precious Mirialan?” A clone voice asked and placed their elbows on Kan’s shoulders, and she looked up to see it was Howzer.

Kan let the corner of her mouth quirk into a smirk, “Precious? Really?”

“Come on, you know you're our prized possession”

Kan rolled her eyes and took a sip of her drink, relaxing into the embrace of the clone behind her. Echo, on the other hand, was anything but relaxed. He felt extremely irritated by the simple fact that Kan was so physically comfortable with Howzer. This only led to him looking down into his food and searching for the reason why it annoyed him so much. Safe to say, he didn't find it.

“Howzer” Hunter nodded to him in acknowledgement, and he nodded back.

“Hunter” He replied, then he looked to crosshair, “Crosshair”

Crosshair glared at Howzer, and Kan looked up to him, seeing he wore his own scowl. She smirked, and a small laugh escaped her lips, accompanied by the roll of her eyes, “Men”.

Omega laughed at her comment, and Howzer shoved her a little.

“Anyway, you better come back soon or Oscar will go mad”

“That sounds like a tempting offer”

“I'm sure he'd have another tempting offer for you if you came back" He said as he moved away, and Kan scrunched up her nose.

“Not on his life”

“I'll let him know you said that”

“Please do”

Echo watched the exchange with an unpleasant feeling in his gut.

Kan was crouched and organising her office — her version of it at least, which entailed making haphazard piles all around her working space on the floor — when she heard a knock on the door. She called for them to enter and looked up to see Hunter stood in the doorway.

“Nice glasses” He grinned, and she realised that they were still on the end of her nose. She laughed and pushed them up onto her head so she could see him better.

“Thanks, what brings you here?”

He leaned onto the doorframe with his forearm, “We're heading off soon, but I just wanted to say thanks, for entertaining Omega”

“Oh it was no problem, she's an amazing kid, and very smart. It was my pleasure” Kan smiled

“Well, you've certainly made an impression on her, she's just been gushing about how clever you are” He raised an eyebrow.

“Ah, I'm sure she's exaggerating” Kan laughed a little, no sure how to respond to any kind of praise.

“I don't know, Echo seemed to agree” He grinned at her, and her cheeks flushed a little.

“Oh, well that was kind of him” She mumbled her words just as the person in question appeared next to his brother with Omega. Echo saw the grin on Hunter's face and the blush on Kan's and immediately assumed that he had been flirting with her. He felt his blood boil at the thought. I told him I didn't like her, I guess I can't be mad.

Omega made a beeline for Kan but Hunter grabbed her arm before she could enter the mess once again, “It's time to go”

“Aw, but Kanda was going to show me how to solder” She whined. Echo noticed that she called her ‘Kanda’ and wondered if Kan had let slip her full name.

“I can show you another time Omega, don't worry” Kan smiled at the young girl, but she just slumped her shoulders.

“Fine” Omega muttered, going back to the door.

“It was nice to meet you Kan, I'm sure we'll see you again soon” Hunter smiled.

“Yeah, it was nice to meet you guys too”

“Bye Kanda” Omega waved as they left the room.

“Bye Omega” She laughed slightly and called out.

Echo waved and remained in the doorway, looking back towards Kan.

“She's a great kid” Kan declared.

“I know” He smiled, a genuine, content smile.

“She reminds me of myself at that age” She noted, fiddling with the motherboard she was demonstating with earlier.

“How so?” Echo asked.

“I guess… always asking questions and wanting to know more” Kan started, a smile curving her lips as she thought fondly of her youth. She thought of working with her father in his workshop, making him detail every single thing he was doing, and then coming home to tell her mother everything she learnt. “And wanting to do something important with her life” She continued, looking up at Echo.

“Did you ever do anything important?” He asked with a little smile.

“I'm here aren't I?” She grinned, and he chuckled in response.

A silence enveloped them for a short moment before Kan spoke up again.

“Hunter seems cool” She admitted.

“Mhm”

Kan noted the tightening of Echo’s jaw at the comment and stopped what she was doing.

“What is it?” She asked, honestly feeling a little upset that she couldn't seem to ever get anything right when it came to him.

“Nothing” Echo turned to leave.

“Echo” She called out for him and he looked back at her reluctantly.

“Have I said something to upset you?” She asked and when he didnt reply immediately she went into nervous rambling, “I didn't mean to insinuate that you seem uncool in comparison or anything. Not that- I mean- I do think you’re cool, just that Hunter seems nice, you know?”

Echo’s jaw unclenched as he watched Kan stumble over her words, her brows pinched together in concern and eyes looking up at him with a startling intensity. He thought she looked incredible.

“Um, or is it something else?” She continued, sinking onto her knees, “I feel like I keep upsetting you and I don't know why”

“You haven't upset me Kan, you couldn't” Echo said softly and left immediately afterwards, not feeling like answering for what he said.

“Oh” Kan said, sitting back on her heels. What does that mean?

technical devotion, part seven: a new post

content warnings: none :)

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Kan was crouched in the far corner of her office when Rex knocked firmly on the door.

“Come in- AH!”

He found the cause of the shriek when he hurriedly opened the door and saw Kan laid out over the mess of her office, her hand clutched at her temple.

“You alright?” Rex asked, rushing over to help her up.

“All good just- ouch, yeah…” She revealed the trickle of blood down the side of her face, “Nothing a bit of bacta can't fix” She said with a toothy grin that looked more like a wince.

“Alright, sit down then, let me get you cleaned up” Rex said with a fond shake of his head. Kan was exceedingly clumsy, but he put it down to her excitable attitude, and she was too good at what she did to not keep around because of a few broken bits and grazes.

Kan did as the Captain said, and took a seat at her desk, retrieving the medkit from the drawer. Rex opened it up and took an antiseptic wipe to clean the blood from the small wound.

As Kan took a sharp breath in at the stinging sensation of it, she realised that Rex probably hadn't come to her office without reason.

“What had you seeking me out then Captain?” She asked with a grin, hoping for something exciting.

He almost laughed at her enthusiasm, “I've got a mission that's perfect for you, if you're interested, but I have a feeling you are”

Kan let out a self-deprecating chuckle, “I certainly am”

“Good” Rex smiled, “It's more of a… longterm thing really”

“Go on” She wheezed out at the feeling of the cool bacta hitting her wound.

“Sorry, should've warned you” He mumbled, pressing a bandage over the area, “I'll be posting you somewhere for a while. It's a hot-spot for imperials and we have intel that they're working on some kind of big technological development there. I want you to find out whatever you can, and we can potentially think about some kind of infiltration, but that's only once we know more”

“So I'll be spying for the most part?” She asked.

“Yeah, that sort of thing. I was hoping you could work out some kind of cover and talk to people under an alias or something like that, get the people to trust you, you know? That way you could get some really good info”

“Right, okay” Kan nodded, “Is it just me going?”

“No, I was thinking of sending someone else with you, either Gregor or Ech-”

“I'd like Echo to come” She said before he even got the name out. Rex narrowed his eyes at her with a skeptical look.

“Can I trust you to be professional if I send Echo with you?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“What? Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” She asked, puzzled at what he meant.

“Hm, you're right, I guess it's Echo I'd need to worry about in that regard” He relented in his scrutinising gaze.

“That doesn't make sense, Echo's very professional”

Rex chuckled, “Mhm, okay. Well then, I'll go let Echo know you want him”

Kan’s breath stuttered and her eyebrows raised at the way Rex phrased his sentence, and he smirked. She had reacted as he had hoped.

“Alright, maybe don't phrase it that way to him though” She laughed nervously, though she really hoped he was taking on what she was saying.

“Don't worry” He said, patting her knee with a knowing smirk, “I won't”

Kan watched Rex leave, and tried not to think about how much his words rang true.

Kan waited patiently aboard Echo's ship, kicking her heel gently against the cupboard as she sat atop the kitchenette counter once more. Her thoughts dwelled on the fact that she hadn't really let Echo have any say in the matter of whether he came with her or not, and she just hoped that he was willing of his own volition. Her worries were soothed when she heard him walking up the ship's ramp, and he smiled softly at her as he came into view.

“Hey there” Kan smiled back at him.

“Hey” Echo replied with as much nonchalance as he could muster. He was truthfully very happy that Kan had chosen him to go with her on this mission, but he was trying hard not to show the full extent of it, not that Kan would've minded.

Kan hopped down from her place on the counter and joined Echo as he walked to the cockpit. She sat in the co-pilot seat as he started up the ship's systems, bringing her knees up to her chest.

“Have you ever done a mission like this?” She asked.

“No, I haven’t” Echo shook his head as he brought the ship into the air and piloted it into the upper atmosphere.

“Cool. We can figure it out together then” Kan smiled, and Echo looked over at her. The expression she wore could've had Echo melting to a puddle right where he sat. She looked so hopeful and full of positivity that she was practically bursting at the seems. He let his own smile creep across his face.

“Yeah, I guess so” He focused on plotting the course they would be taking through Hyperspace, and once he'd finished, he pushed the lever to send them there.

He sat back in his chair and breathed out a long breath. He noticed that Kan was fidgeting about a little bit and looked over to her, then catching a glimpse at the bandage that had been hiding underneath her hair.

“Hey are you okay?” Echo moved from his chair and stood in front of her, brushing her hair from her forehead. Kan's eyes widened as she looked up at him, and her breath became shallow as she felt his fingers brush against her skin.

“I'm fine, yeah” She breathed out, “Just a scratch, nothing to worry about”

“What happened?” He asked, looking into her eyes with concern.

“I fell over” Kan looked away out of embarrassment, “Knocked it on something in my room”

Echo then realised he had let his knuckles rest against Kan's cheekbone and drew back quickly, “You should really be careful in there if you're not going to clean it up”

“Yeah yeah, whatever dad” She grumbled, rolling her eyes.

“Sorry” Echo chuckled sheepishly, retaking his seat.

“I'm just kidding, you're right” Kan shrugged a little as she looked out into the swirling blues of Hyperspace. Echo couldn't help but notice the way it reflected in her eyes, almost a manifestation of the wonder he saw swimming in them so often.

The dwelling that Kan and Echo were staying at was a simple abode; from the outside it looked as if it had been built room by room, smoothed sandstone walls clearly marking the distinctions between each area. There were windows cut from the stone, boarded up with wooden shutters and curtains being the only things that separated the inside from the out. It was in a quiet corner of the town, around the corner from a small park and secluded from the other houses in the neighbourhood.

Kan looked over the dwelling with delight. It was a lot more simple in its construction, but it reminded her of her family home.

“We don't have a lot of funds at the moment, but this was something that Senator Chuchi managed to pull together for us” Echo said, approaching the front door with the manual key in hand.

“I think it looks lovely” Kan said simply, following him inside after her unlocked it.

The inside was as charming as the outside. A wooden table and chairs sat in the centre of the kitchen, checkered tiles and light green painted cabinets lining the walls. Though her specialty was anything erring on the technical side, Kan marvelled at the distinct lack of it in the house. Echo opened the door that lead into what appeared to be a bedroom.

“I'll take this room, there should be another upstairs” He said, placing his bag down by the door.

Kan nodded and climbed the stairs, finding two doors along the short hallway. The first was the refresher, matching the kitchen in style, and the other was a bedroom. It held only a bed and chest of drawers, but Kan loved it. She placed her bag down on the bed as she heard Echo call up the stairs.

“There's some rice in the cupboard, and protein solids, are you gonna be alright just having that for tonight?”

“Yeah of course, anything is fine” She replied from the top of the stairs.

“Alright, dinner in 15 minutes then” He smiled up at her, moving away and not expecting it when Kan accompanied him to the kitchen. “You can get settled in, I've got this”

“Okay well… can I keep you company?” She asked, her head slightly tipped to the side.

“I suppose so” He answered, turning to the stove and flicking it on. Kan frowned a little. For someone who seemed awful sure of themself, Echo sure did evade giving a definitive answer most of the time.

Kan brought a chair out from under the table and sat with one leg tucked under her, the other curled to her chest while she rested her chin on it. She admired Echo's handiwork, watching as he found all the spices and sauces he could in the cupboards to make their meal more interesting.

“Echo, where did you first meet Rex?” Kan asked him.

“Um… He was the Captain of my old legion” He replied, placing the rice bag in the heater.

“You were in the 501st?” Kan sat up straighter and Echo looked back at her, noting the way her eyes had lit up at the mention of it.

“Yeah” He replied simply.

“No way, that’s awesome” She grinned, and he raised a brow at her.

“You’ve heard of the 501st?”

“Everyone has heard of the 501st” Kan said, almost brushing off his surprise. “Did you know Fives?” She then asked and Echo tensed up.

“How did you know Fives?” He retorted, genuinely curious as to how Fives could have met her and not him.

“I met him once on Coruscant. A close brother of his had died recently and he was pretty upset about it” She said, so unaware of the heaviness that her words carried for Echo.

He gulped, “Yeah um, that will have been me, I guess” Kan looked at him purely puzzled, and he turned back to his cooking as he continued, “Uh, I was presumed dead for a while, Fives was my closest brother, my twin, we were from the same batch” Kan could hear the solemnity of his tone and decided not to ask what had become of his brother.

“You were presumed dead? That’s pretty badass” Kan said with a tinge of awe.

Echo actually laughed at that, “I don't know about that, Fives was always the more ‘badass’ one of us anyway”

“He was an ARC right?”

“Yeah, we got promoted together”

“You were an ARC too?” Kan asked, leaning forward on her seat even more, if that was even possible at this point.

“Mhm”

“Woah, I had no idea you had all this exciting backstory Echo”

Echo found himself laughing again, and he was revelling in the fact that he was talking about his past, and it wasn't dredging up any unpleasant feelings. He was just sharing himself with another human being, and they were listening to him, eager to hear more. He finished cooking, and plated up the simple meal, placing one in front of Kan.

“Thanks Echo this looks great” She smiled broadly up at him and he took the seat opposite her as they began eating. “I remember Fives had a super cool design on his helmet”

“Mhm, the Rishi eel”

“That's what it was?”

“Our first assignment off of Kamino was at an outpost on the Rishi moon. The rest of our squad got killed there, one of them by the eel, Fives got it on his helmet to honour him” He remembered his brothers fondly.

Kan nodded, almost hoping he would go on, but he didn't. “What was your armour like in the 501st?”

“Uh… It was pretty standard to be honest, I had a handprint here” He imitated the placement of it on his own chest, “After Rex killed the Rishi eel he wiped a handprint of goo from it onto me, I just painted over the spot in the end”

“That’s cool, so you were kind of honouring your brother too” Kan noted.

“In a way, I hadn't really thought about it like that” Echo replied, once again enamoured by the way Kan could be so positive about anything.

The next morning, Echo awoke to the golden light of the sun filtering through the curtains from the window, and sat up in his bed, rubbing over his face with his hand.

He swung his feet over the edge of the bed and stretched his back, feeling a tightness lingering there. He grabbed his headgear and slipped it on, before noticing that his chestplate was missing from the neat pile of armour in the corner. He frowned, slipping on a plain tunic and trousers, lacing up his boots and making his way into the kitchen.

He saw that Kan had opened up the shutters and had seemingly cleaned the space a little bit, and she already had an engineering project underway on the dining table. Echo saw Kan notice him as she walked past a window and went to intercept her at the door.

“Have you seen my-” He stopped talking as he saw her holding his chestplate with giddy grin plastered on her face. “What did you do?” He spoke hesitantly.

“Take a look” She handed it to him, turning it so he could see the new addition.

The chestplate now bared a red handprint, exactly where his blue one had been in the 501st. Echo's eyes went wide, and he looked back up to Kan, a warmth filling his chest at the touching gesture.

His pupils dilated and his breath shortened. The feeling that gripped him finally found its name, and as he looked at the newly painted armour, and up into the deep green eyes of the one who made it so, he realised - without question - that he cared for her deeply, and it certainly wasn't in any kind of platonic way. It never had been, and if he was being honest with himself, he had known the whole time.

He liked Kan.

Kriff. So much for keeping it professional.

“Kan… Thank you. This really means a lot to me” He said, his eyes conveying a deep emotion that Kan couldn't really decipher.

“It’s no problem, I think it looks cooler this way anyway” She smiled, “Take a look on the inside”

Echo looked inside, and turned it over to see that there was a small aurebesh 5 where his heart would be positioned if he was wearing it.

“So it’s like, he's there with you all the time, or something. I can remove it if it's too-”

“No. It's perfect” He looked at her with such feeling, he felt he could almost cry.

“Good” She smiled and moved away, beginning to talk about the mission, the reason they were here, but Echo couldn't hear anything over the quickened beating of his heart pounding in his ears.

technical devotion, part eight: playing the part

content warnings: minor description of panic around crowds

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“What the-”

Kan jumped as she reached the bottom of the stairs and looked at the droid that was sat lazily at the kitchen table. She then realised it was not a droid at all.

“Echo, you scared me” She laughed slightly, and Echo flipped up the mask of his disguise.

“Pretty convincing right?”

“Yeah, maybe if you weren't sat like a man” She smirked at his distinctly human posture and he chuckled. “I've gotta say, when you said you had a disguise this is not what I was expecting”

“Well maybe that bodes well for my disguise then” He smirked a little, “Are you ready to go?”

“Yep” Kan smiled, grabbing her bag, “Let's get going”

Kan and Echo ventured into town, having heard there was a market in the square today. They were yet to really meet anyone here, and Echo had decided it was easier for him to walk around as a ‘droid’, going unnoticed, instead of trying to explain to people why he was more machine than man, as he often put it.

The square was bursting with life. It was wonderfully decorated with banners and plants, and the large fountain in the middle served as a place of rest for parents and a play area for their kids. There were vendors selling an assortment of things, from food to spare parts and clothes, and it was positively a melting pot of people from all over the galaxy. There was not one presiding race, and Kan was thankful, her olive green Mirialan skin not making her stand out for once.

Despite the cheerful cast of characters in the square, it was lined by men in white plastoid armour, the only ones who managed to stand out in this environment. Stormtroopers.

“You should get talking to some people” Echo said quietly, his voice modulated by his mask. Kan almost didn't realise it was him talking to her.

“Yeah alright, give me a minute” Kan looked around, a little overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things going on. She figured she'd start at a food vendor, somewhere they could actually do with visiting.

“Hello there ma'am, how are you today?” The Weequay vendor smiled warmly.

“I'm well, how are you?” Kan replied.

Echo couldn't refrain from rolling his eyes as Kan got into a conversation with the vendor that could not be described as short. She asked about her life, how she had ended up on this planet and about her family. Though it was sweet how much she truly cared about other people and wanted to connect with them, this really wasn't the time for it.

As they walked away from the stand with a paper bag full of vegetables, Kan got distracted by another stand selling food, and Echo grabbed her arm subtlely to stop her.

“We’re not just here to chat and buy food, start talking to some of the locals” He said quietly.

Kan huffed, “Alright, fine”

“I'm gonna take a walk around, see what I can hear” Echo said, walking off to her right before she got the chance to reply.

Kan looked around the square, and decided to just take the plunge. She approached a friendly looking Zabrak woman who was sat by herself at the fountain, smiling at the children playing in the water.

“Excuse me, I'm sorry to disturb you” Kan began, and the woman looked to her with an openness that made her continue, “I'm new to town, could you possibly tell me a little bit about what goes on around here?”

“Of course” She smiled, and patted the place next to her.

Kan took the seat, and they fell into conversation about the customs of the town, market on every second and fourth day of the week, and a communal celebration every few weeks on the fifth day, which included mostly food stands and dancing, among other festivities. The Zabrak, who had since introduced herself as Rhidi, told her about the mayor, pointing them out amongst the crowd of small children that they were playing with.

“It's lovely here, the community seems to be really thriving” Kan said, looking back to Rhidi to see her hesitancy before speaking.

“It is, I must admit it has been different lately” She said, a twinge of indignance in her tone.

“How so?” Kan asked, feigning innocence.

“There's just… a lot more of an imperial presence here nowadays” She began, trying to gauge Kan's opinion on the matter, “Which is fine! of course, it's just… different”

“Oh right…” Kan said, looking around at the stormtroopers patrolling the square, “When did they get here?”

“Around two standard months ago, there was suddenly double the troops, then triple, it happened so quickly” Rhidi said, keeping her voice hushed.

“Something important must be going on then” Kan prompted her.

“They've set up some kind of base for experimentation, technological I think, but that's all I know about it” She said, then sat up straighter, “But anyway, that's pretty much there is to know around here”

Kan understood and followed suit, “Thank you so much Rhidi, it was a pleasure to meet you”

“And you…”

“Oh! I'm uh- Ech-a” Kan immediately cursed her stupid mouth for speaking before she could think properly about what she was saying. “Short for Gekavi” She tried to salvage her blunder with the reasonably common Mirialan name.

“Well, I hope to see around again Eka” Rhidi said with a smile, standing up and brushing off her skirt as Kan cringed at the use of the name.

“Me too” She managed to smile before Rhidi walked away.

Kan stood and looked around the square for someone who seemed like they might know something more about the imperial presence here. That's when she noticed a man in an imperial officer's clothing watching her, a subtle smirk on his lips. She tore her eyes away and made her way around the outside of the square, and then back towards the man, bumping into him with her shoulder a little too harshly.

“Oh! I'm so sorry, forgive me” She looked up at him with widened eyes and all the innocence she could.

“It's no worry miss” He smiled at her warmly, readjusting his uniform, “You're new around here aren't you?”

“Oh dear, is it that obvious?” She said, her hand on her cheek out of fake embarrassment.

The officer chuckled, “I just don't remember seeing you before”

“Ah well, I've just moved in. I'm Gekavi” She doubled down on the name while holding out her hand and he took it in a soft grasp.

“Captain Levy” He gave his own name. He was truthfully quite a handsome man, dark curly hair that fell over his forehead neatly, dark blue eyes, and a pleasant smile.

“Captain huh? That's impressive” Kan smiled up at him disarmingly.

“Should be Commander soon” The Captain smirked at her a little, and Kan could tell he was all too happy to show off to her. This is too easy.

“Woah, how come?” She asked innocently, a small smile quirking the corner of her mouth.

“Cant tell you that I’m afraid Miss, top secret” He said with a little wink.

“Aw, that’s too bad”

Echo looked around the square from the corner, trying to keep his appearance distinctly droid-like. He finally found Kan, but his breath caught as he saw her fluttering her eyelashes up at a man - an Imperial officer - and touching his arm gently. He couldn't help the feeling of jealousy and borderline anger that bubbled up in his gut, and he made his way towards them slowly.

Kan caught the sight of Echo over Captain Levy's shoulder and felt the need to wrap up the conversation.

“Well I should be getting home, it was nice to meet you Captain, almost Commander” She smirked up at him.

“It’s Drass, but it was nice to meet you too Gekavi” He replied with a charming smile, and Kan waved goodbye before she heard him calling out to her again, “Will you be attending the festivities tomorrow?”

“I'm not sure, I still have a lot of settling in to be doing” She replied a little nervously to invite him to try and convince her.

“Well, I hope to see you there nonetheless” He smiled.

She batted her eyelashes at him for a moment, chewing on her lip, “I'll think about it”. She smiled at him and then left, noting him watching her walk away. Echo came to walk beside her as she rounded the corner to their dwelling, and she jumped a little at his sudden presence.

“That was great” She grinned at him, and his heart sunk just a little.

“It was?” He looked at her, jaw grinding when she nodded, “We're not here to just flirt with Imperials you know”

“I wasn't really flirting” Kan screwed up her face at the accusation, placing down the grocery bag on the kitchen table, “But that man is one compliment away from spilling everything. I think we should go to these ‘festivities’ tomorrow”

“So you can flirt with this man some more?” Echo asked, and Kan looked at him with disbelief and apprehension to his strange line of questioning.

“Fake flirting, there's nothing attractive about being with the empire” She pointed out, “I think he's a good first try in any case, and if we go to this thing tomorrow we might find other opportunities”

Echo conceded with a grunt, “Okay, if you say so”

Kan frowned as Echo walked into his room and shut the door. She was getting a little tired of the way he would suddenly act different around her, and she couldn't help but feel that she had done something wrong, once again. She didn't like the way his mood affected her own thoughts, and didn’t understand why she would let it happen. Had it not been the right thing to do to get the attention of an Imperial Captain? Or soon to be Commander, if he was to be believed - that seemed like a good connection to have made.

“Echo, are you coming this thing tonight?” Kan asked from outside his bedroom door.

Echo had taken to staying in his room any time that he wasn't eating or out walking around town and listening in on conversations. That was the way he had found out where their main base of operations was earlier on in the day.

He opened the door, the crease in his brow softening as he looked down at Kan. She wore a short white sleeveless dress, a red waistcoat with the top button done up, and a pair of brown leather boots. Her collarbones were adorned by a small golden necklace, and her hair tied into two pigtails with white ribbons. She looked positively breath taking, and Echo's breath had certainly been taken.

“Uh- I, um- I might stay here” He stuttered out, rubbing his neck as he looked away from her.

“Oh, okay” She said, her shoulders slumping a little.

He noted her deflated tone, “Did you want me to come?”

“I mean… yes. I'm a little nervous about talking to this officer again… and people in general really. It might just be reassuring if you were there, I don't know” She spoke, looking down at her feet, “It's okay if you don't wa-”

“No, I'll come” He replied quickly, “Let me just get changed quickly”

“Okay” Kan smiled as he closed the door, and she sat down at the kitchen table waiting for him. Within a few minutes, the door opened again and Echo stepped out in his droid disguise. Kan desperately wanted to ask him why he had chosen to disguise himself as a droid for this mission, but she decided that another time would be better.

The pair left their dwelling, into the darkness of the night, and made their way to the park just around the corner, where the event was taking place. Echo noted the way that Kan's hands tightened into fists as she looked around the festivities nervously.

“Do you want me to stay with you?” He asked quietly.

“No, I mean- maybe stay close by, but you don't need to be right here if you don't want to. I- I'll be fine, uh- being by myself, um, if you're nearby” She replied, her brain scattered by the amount of people around.

“Hey” Echo said, pulling her around the corner and out of the view of everyone else. He flipped up his mask to talk to her, “If you're uncomfortable, we can go back, you're under no obligation to get information this way”

Kan looked up into his eyes as he leaned his hand on the wall next to her. She found them entirely captivating, a soft brown colour that was different from any of the other clones she had encountered. The intensity of his gaze calmed her from her previous worries, but his proximity had her heart racing.

“No, it's okay. I just- crowds can be a little much for me, but it's fine”

“Are you sure?” He asked, his eyes narrowing.

“Yes, It'll be fine” She assured him. and he stepped back, flipping his mask down.

“Okay, let's do it” He said, gesturing for her to re-join the celebration.

Feeling emboldened by his actions, and having a need to feel safe, Kan grabbed ahold of Echo's hand, and pulled him gently through the crowd.

Echo felt as if his body had been set alight by the simple touch, and he knew that his cheeks must be bright red under his mask. His knees felt weak just from such a small gesture, but he kept his form rigid, continuing his droid-like appearance. He looked down at their hands and smiled to himself. Kan's hand was so different from his own. It was smaller, with slender fingers, but that made it fit so perfectly into his.

As they emerged from the crowd, they noticed that they were at the edge of a dance floor. Couples danced around giddily, some old, some young. With Echo's hand grounding her in the uncomfortable situation, Kan looked around and truly appreciated the beauty of the moment.

Echo felt Kan slip her fingers between his, and he looked over to her to see her looking around the festival with a smile on her face. His heart lurched at the sight. The orange glow of the warm lights scattered around the park lit her face so perfectly, bringing out each curve and dimple there was to see. For the first time, he noticed a thin scar that ran along the back of her jaw, stretching towards her ear. The urge to reach out and trace his finger along it almost overtook him, but his thoughts were interrupted as someone approached them and Kan took her hand from his.

“Eka! It's good to see you” Rhidi approached Kan with a wide smile, who in turn cringed at the fake name.

“Rhidi, you too” She smiled politely.

“I'm just on the way to find my wife, but I'll see you later!” She waved as she made her way past them, and Kan waved back, though Rhidi wouldn't have seen it.

“Eka huh?” Echo said tauntingly from beside her and Kan rolled her eyes, “Sounds awfully like someone I know…”

“Ugh, I panicked okay?” She looked at the clone, “From now on, if anyone asks my name is Gek-”

“Gekavi! You came”

Kan turned and her eyes landed on Captain Levy, making his way towards her with a wide grin. She plastered a similar expression on her own face as she greeted him.

“Captain Levy, how lovely to see you”

“Please, just Drass is fine” He insisted, “And I must say, you look absolutely gorgeous tonight”

“Oh, thank you Drass” Kan replied shyly, “You look pretty handsome yourself”

Echo felt like throwing up.

“Thank you my dear” Drass held out his hand, “May I have this dance?”

“Oh” Kan said, genuinely surprised, and hooked her pinky finger with Echo's for a moment. The Captain had not acknowledged him at all, and still didn't as he slipped the rest of his fingers into Kan's and gave her hand a firm squeeze - a quick reminder that she didn't have to do this.

“Okay then” She said, and took his hand with her free one. She looked back to Echo as she did, her hand lingering in his as she let herself be dragged away by the other man.

Echo hated the sight of it with a burning passion. His hand dropping from hers and her walking away with another man. His infatuation with Kan was admittedly rather new, but the sight in front of him just felt wrong, and his jaw tightened with indignance. He watched as the man, perfect in all ways as far as Echo could understand, swept Kan off her feet figuratively, and then literally, as the dance called for it. He tried to reassure himself that Kan was just pretending, but either she was a really good actor, or she was genuinely enjoying herself.

Self-conscious thoughts crept into Echo's mind from the dark corners of his brain, clawing their way out from hiding. I could never dance with her like that. Even if she wanted to, I don't have a hand to offer her. She looks much happier with this man, and he's an imperial of all people. And the worst thought of them all, she would never want someone like me.

Echo's breathing became shallow and he struggled to keep his rigid exterior. Kan danced with Captain Levy for a few songs, and Echo just tried to focus on the music, the band playing instruments he had never seen before. If he wasn't so distracted he'd be interested in finding out what they were. It seemed that the pair were talking about something in depth, swapping thoughts on a subject.

Then, it was time for a slow number. Kan looked hesitant, but the Captain seemingly convinced her, and they took up a more intimate position, swaying to the music together. They appeared to still be conversing a lot as they did so, Kan asking lots of questions, as was her inquisitive nature.

Echo was so vividly jealous that he started feeling dizzy.

Luckily, the song ended, and Kan said goodbye to the Captain and made her way back over to Echo. She grabbed his hand and said firmly, “We're leaving”

The feel of Kan's hand in his once more dissipated the rage that his jealousy had caused. She gripped him tightly as she wove her way through the crowd and out the other side. She didn’t relent in her grip until they were back in their dwelling, and she was pacing back and forth.

“What happened? It looked like you were enjoying yourself” Echo noted, and Kan whirled on him, pointing a finger to his chest.

“I was not. That man is nothing if not vile. He-” She said angrily, and Echo was taken aback. He had never seen her be angry at all, let alone so fiercely like this.

“He what?”

“He was- It doesn't matter” She shook her head, “He let slip the nature of what's going on here, among other things”

“Oh wow, you work fast” Echo tried to ease the tension with a small joke, and she did chuckle a little before her face fell.

“It's some kind of weapon, something that can be fitted to one-man fighters, or used on the ground. He didn't say exactly what it did, but he definitely used the word ‘destruction’ more than once” She spoke solemnly.

“Oh kriff” Was all Echo could say.

“Yeah” Kan sighed, and slumped into a kitchen chair. She pulled her knees to her chest as she often did.

“Why didn't you enjoy yourself? What did he do?” Echo asked, taking a step towards her.

“He-” She huffed, “He was just saying some really nasty stuff” She looked away from him, and Echo knelt on the floor in front of her.

“About you?”

“No, about… clones” She admitted.

Echo sighed, “Well, that's to be expected maybe, he is an imper-”

“That's not the point. The clones- you're a person Echo, and people just talk about you like you're a piece of dirt on their shoe. It's disgusting that people can be so cruel”

Echo found his heart melting at Kan's words for the millionth time. Her anger on his behalf was admirable.

“It’s okay Kan, that's just how it is”

“Well it shouldn’t be” She pouted, crossing her arms over her knees. Echo couldn’t help but smirk at her childlike actions as he stood again. “You're laughing at me”

“I'm not laughing” Echo smiled wider, a small laugh escaping.

“Yeah yeah, and I'm the queen of Naboo” Kan rolled her eyes and stood from her seat, making her way towards the stairs.

“Kan” Echo called after her, and she turned to look at him. He hesitated a little before he spoke, “Look, that man may have been an idiot in the end, but… he was right, you look really nice”

Kan smiled broadly at the compliment, her cheeks darkening, “Thanks Echo”

He just smiled at her, “No problem, I'll see you tomorrow” He walked over to the door to his room and disappeared inside.

Kan stayed stood at the bottom of the stairs for a moment longer, her blush only growing deeper. Though she would not admit it, she truly had Echo in mind when she dressed herself for the night's festivities, and despite the devastating news of this weapon the imperials were building, she felt elated that he had acknowledged her appearance, and even complimented it. Maybe I'm getting somewhere with him…

technical devotion, part nine: getting nowhere

content warnings: none :)

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Kan and Echo had been working undercover for almost two weeks now, and Echo was growing impatient at the lack of action they had seen. He never considered himself to be someone with an itchy trigger finger, but the days of just milling about town, listening in on conversations and watching stormtroopers rotate through their shifts was beginning to grate on him. He felt as if he were being useless, and that was something he really didn't like.

Kan on the other hand, had been plenty busy. She had constructed a sensor for their domicile that would buzz her comm when someone was approaching the house, thus far only having been triggered by Echo. She also put up a camera for the same reason, but she was yet to really use that. She had built a device that Echo had been using, to scan buildings for any sign of this weapon they had found out about, but so far it was not proving fruitful.

At the moment she was working on a new build, a more complicated one that had taken up all of her time from the past few days. The aim was to make a device that could disable anything technological. She had made a small version, which had worked on rendering her comm device useless until she re-configured it, but to make something that would work on a large scale was different.

Kan could tell that Echo was impatient. She often heard him sighing in his room and pacing about in the evening. She had taken to working at the kitchen table, much to Echo's chagrin. There were loose wires and spare parts scattered everywhere, and he'd started just pushing things off of the table when it came time to eat. He did enjoy seeing Kan so much, with her being right outside his bedroom door at all times, but the mess, combined with his agitation about getting nowhere with their assignment, was beginning to annoy him.

Kan was beginning to feel some irritation of her own. She was sat at the kitchen table as she always did, working on soldering together some coils, but she kept getting distracted as Echo sat down, tapped his foot, then stood up, paced about, then sat down and repeated the process. It was driving her insane, but because she felt empathy for why he was so irritable, she kept her mouth shut. Until she couldn't.

“Echo, I'm sorry but… that's really rather distracting” She stopped what she was doing and looked to him.

Echo grunted. He was in a particularly foul mood, and had been for days. Their conversations had not been as lively as they were at the beginning of the mission. He continued to go through his series of motions, and Kan just watched him, unsure of what to really say.

“I'm sick of this. It's time we did something” He finally spoke, voicing his concerns for the first time.

“Echo we don't know anything yet, we can't just go bursting into their base of operations with nothing but a blaster”

“That’s exactly what we're going to do” He said, leaning onto the table and looking at Kan with unwavering seriousness.

“No, we're not” She sighed, her own gaze even and as serious as his, “You know it's not a good idea”

“I'm past good ideas at this point” He spoke exasperatedly, his hand running over his face.

“Echo… we're going to find something soon, I'm going to see that Captain again, I'll try and squeeze some more information out of him” Kan said gently, trying to assuage his building anger.

“I don't want you doing that” He sighed deeply, his eyes trained on Kan.

“Well I don’t exactly want to either, but it's the only lead we have at the moment”

“Yeah, cause I’ve been so useless haven’t I” He grumbled, facing away.

“There's no point getting angry about it” Kan stated, her own irritation bubbling to the surface.

“But I am angry! I haven't been able to find anything out, and now you're saying we can't even try” He raised his voice slightly and Kan frowned deeply.

“It's not my fault” Kan spoke lowly.

“I'm not saying it's your fault, I'm saying that it seems like you don't even want to try” He was shouting now, and Kan stood up.

“What are you-?”

“Is this cause even important to you?” He drew in closer to her.

“Yes, of course it is, it’s just-”

“You don’t get it do you?”

“Echo-”

“No, you don’t know how this feels at all, how could you?”

Kan took a step back from Echo. He was acting so out of character. She could tell he was angry, of course, but the look in his eyes told her his words were coming from a place of sadness.

“You weren’t a part of the war, you don’t know what it was like to be fighting for something bigger than yourself. If you did you wouldn’t be backing down!”

Something in Kan snapped at that, “You don’t even know anything about me!” She shouted back at him, finally matching his tone.

“Then tell me!” He shouted back, complete exasperation taking him over.

Kan stayed silent, her chest heaving as she stared into Echo’s eyes from inches away. She then shook her head and moved towards the stairs. She wasn’t going to be berated over something so ridiculous. Echo grabbed her wrist before she could ascend the stairs.

“Tell me” He said, sternly, though he wasn't shouting this time.

Kan sighed exasperatedly. She was entirely worked up by the argument. She ran a hand over her face angrily and ripped her arm from Echo's grasp.

“I don’t owe you any kind of explanation, but I was involved in the war, so you're wrong. I do know what it was like, and what I know is that risking your life unnecessarily is pointless” Her tone was venomous, her words dripping from her mouth like poison, but her eyes held a deep and profound sadness that Echo hadn’t ever noticed before. As he took in her confession, he realised that he must have really struck a chord.

“You were involved in the war?” He spoke so gently now, his expression confused yet intrigued.

Kan let out an aggressive sigh, “Yes, look, I don't want to talk about it. Find out more about this base and I might actually consider it, but we are not going in blind” She said, the anger melting from her voice with each word, a sternness still lingering.

“I didn't realise you were the one calling the shots now”

Kan missed the small smile on Echo’s lips at his attempt to bridge the gap between them. “Sorry, sir” She said sarcastically and stormed off to her room.

It had been a few days since their argument, and neither Echo nor Kan were feeling man enough, or woman enough, to be the first to clear the air. They had talked, minimally, but it had been small jabbing comments accompanied by a lot of glaring. Mostly from Kan.

Kan tiptoed down the stairs. She didn't need Echo to see her slipping out to spend the evening schmoozing Captain Levy. He had already expressed his distaste for the man, and while she agreed with him, she didn't fancy a telling off for it. She grabbed her jacket and opened the door.

“Where are you off to?”

For kriff sake.

Kan turned to see Echo leaning against his doorframe, just in his blacks. Even in the dim light of the singular bulb in the kitchen, she could see the contours of his toned torso, the size of his biceps as his arms crossed over his chest. Kan ground her jaw. How dare he be looking this good when I'm supposed to be angry with him.

“Out” She said simply, turning to leave.

“Do you really think it's safe to just being going out at night?” Echo challenged.

“I don't think you're really in any position to say that, Mr let's go in guns a-blazing and get ourselves killed for no good reason” Kan replied, her hands on her hips.

Echo sighed and stepped forwards, closing the space between the two of them, “Kan… I don't want to fight with you”

Kan stayed silent. She wanted him to apologise to her.

Echo looked down a her. She had let her hair out, all of it falling down her back, aside from the two beaded sections at the front. She was wearing a tight long-sleeved top that showed just her collarbones, and a neat pair of trousers. A sliver of her hips was on show as the top rode up a little, and he focused his attention back on her face quickly. Kan thought she was going to feint as she watched him drink in her appearance.

“I'm sorry, for the things I said. I've just been so frustrated that we haven't got anywhere yet. I didn't mean to take it out on you” He said sincerely, and Kan immediately let out a long breath.

“I don't want to fight either, it's exhausting, my brain hurts” She held her head in her hands and Echo chuckled.

“I had no idea you played a part in the war, I would have never said-”

“Don't worry about it. I forgive you” Kan said, looking up him again, “I knew you weren't in your right mind to begin with”

Echo smiled, and paused for a moment, “You look really nice by the way”

“Thank you” Kan's cheeks flushed instantly, “I'm going out to meet Captain Levy”

Echo's smile dropped.

“I know it's not the best idea necessarily, and I don't really want to, but he's been asking me ever since we danced together and… you are right, we haven't got anywhere yet, I've just been too preoccupied to really dwell on it” Kan explained.

“Okay” Echo sighed.

“Okay? You'll let me go?”

He chuckled slightly, “You don't really need my permission, but yes, I'll let you go”

“Alright” Kan smiled, and then it faltered as she stepped outside, “I shouldn't be out for long, but don't wait up for me”

“Can’t promise I won't” Echo's mouth curled into a small smirk.

Kan bit back her own smirk, “Okay, I'll see you later then”

As she walked off, Echo called out for her, “Will you just do something for me?”

“Yeah, anything”

Echo hadn't expected that response, but continued despite the fluttering of his heart, “Tell him you have a husband or something, just to… deter him from being too overly friendly”

“Yeah that's a good idea, thank you” Kan smiled, and turned around to walk away.

Echo watched her go with a sigh. He was glad that they were speaking again, and now that they were, he endeavoured to find out in what capacity she had been involved in the war.

Kan stepped into the bar where she had agreed to meet Captain Levy. It was dimly lit, a strip of red lighting along the bar, and a humidity hung in the air as the many bodies inside moved about. Kan tried to think of the last time she had been in a crowd, when Echo had been there with her. She tried to remember the way his hand had felt in hers; safe, protective and comforting. It brought her heartrate down a little, but it was still no match for the real thing.

She looked around for the Captain, but the darkness of the bar had her peering around with narrowed eyes and no luck.

“Looking for someone?” A voice said into her ear from behind, and she jumped, turning to see the Captain with a smirk plastered across his face.

“Captain! You scared me” Kan laughed nervously.

“Please, it’s Drass” He gestured for her to take a seat at one of the booths, “And besides, it's Commander now”

“You got the promotion?”

“Mhm” He leaned over the table as Kan sat down, “Let me get you a drink”

He walked away before Kan could tell him what she wanted, and she sat back with a small exhale. This was not going to be pleasant by any stretch of the imagination.

For the entirety of the evening, the newly promoted Commander waffled on about himself, about how he got into the Imperial command position in the first place, though divulging no information that was of any use to Kan. He bought a few rounds of drinks for himself, while Kan sipped quietly at the unpleasant one he had bought her in the first round. After an hour of this, she resigned herself to just sitting and listening to him natter on, and after a while she tuned him out without him even noticing. She thought the bar was rather charming, dark wood tables and an assortment of local beverages along the back of the bar. Under different circumstances, she'd be enjoying herself in this environment.

Kan opened the front door and dropped her jacket on the floor beside it, sighing deeply. She trudged into the kitchen and slumped down into a chair, placing her head on the table.

“Kan?” Echo called, emerging from his room to see her sat in the darkness, “What's the matter?”

Kan winced as the light turned on, “It just didn't go well, I didn't find anything out”

“It's alright, we can figure out another way” Echo suggested, taking the seat next to her.

“Yeah” She replied despondently.

“Did something happen?” Echo asked, suddenly alarmed at the thought.

“No. No, just- ugh. Kriffing… men” She grunted.

“Um… I'm sorry?” Echo didn’t really know what to say.

Kan chuckled at that, lifting her head from the table, “It's not you”

He smiled just a bit, “What did he do?”

“He just- he wouldn't shut the kriff up for one second to let me ask anything, and then had the gall to suggest going back to his place afterwards as if he'd earned it or something” Kan rolled her eyes, sitting back in her chair, “It's just typical”

“Typical? How so?” Echo asked.

“I don’t know, I've just had one too many experiences like that. A lot of guys don't care to hear you talk at all and then expect something in return for buying you a few drinks. It's why I haven't done it in a long time to be honest” Kan sighed, her eyes focused on her fiddling hands.

Echo's brow creased in a small frown, “I don't know how anyone could not want to hear you talk”

Kan looked up at him, feeling her heartrate rising, “What?”

“Uh…” Echo trailed off, “You have a lot of interesting things to say, you know?”

One side of Kan's lips quirked into her usual lazy smile, “Thanks Echo, you too”

He chuckled nervously, “I don't know about that”

“I do” Kan said resolutely, “I love hearing your stories from the war”

Echo gulped, trying to form his next sentence without sounding too much like he was prying, “I'd like to hear some of yours too”

Kan took a deep breath, her teeth catching her bottom lip as she chewed nervously, “Maybe another time”

As Kan stood and went to her bedroom without another word, it suddenly occurred to Echo that whatever Kan was avoiding talking about, whatever war stories she wouldn’t tell, were probably deeply painful. It had seemed to him that Kan lived her life as if she had never known any suffering, always smiling and hopeful. If Kan, who was usually so open and positive, was hiding a part of herself, it was something she wanted to forget. That scared Echo, and it also intrigued him to no end. He wanted to know everything there was to know about Kan.

technical devotion, part ten: unveiling truths

a/n: I have a form to join my taglist now if you want! content warnings: canon-typical violence, mentions of torture

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Echo entered the dwelling and slipped off his droid mask with a definitive sigh. Another day of nothing. Though his defeated expression was quickly swept from his face as Kan came running up to him.

“Echo, you're back!” She said quickly, excitement evident, though Echo was sure it wasn't just because he'd returned.

“I’m back… what's up?” He asked dubiously.

“I've been trying to comm you all afternoon” Kan scurried back to the kitchen table, rummaging through the mess on the table. “but I think I know why you haven't been replying, at least… you haven't been ignoring me right?” She stopped rummaging to look up and tilt her head to the side.

Echo smiled faintly, “No, I haven't”

“Okay, well” Kan continued her frantic searching, “Ah, here” She pulled out her datapad, “I was listening in on their comms, and it seems that the Empire are undertaking the exact same project that I am”

Echo frowned in confusion as Kan made her way over to him with the datapad, “What do you mean?”

“Technological shorting, disrupting, whatever you want to call it” She brought up the words she had typed up upon hearing them, “This is what they said”

Echo looked over the words. Electrical pulses… system failure… signal disruption… mining…

“What does this mean?” He asked, looking to Kan, who was now exceedingly close to his chest as she showed him the file over her shoulder.

“A lot of things” Kan started, leaning back into Echo's shoulder a little, “It means that the reason they're building this weapon here, on this planet, is because of the mining operation they're running 15 or so klicks from here. Where my project is entirely wiring-based and ecologically… well, not destructive, theirs is going to pillage this planet of whatever resource it is they've found helps in creating their weapon. It means that they intend to use this weapon, which would be some kind of canon, as something they could fit onto their fighters to shoot at other ships and short the entire system, bring down the ship in any and all senses. It's technological warfare at is finest, and mightily unfair and unethical in so many ways. Not that we thought the Empire were above that”

Echo tried so desperately to focus on Kan's words, but the feel of her leaning into him was frying his brain. She continued to rest even more of her weight into him as she talked, pointing at parts of the text on her datapad and talking in animated way as if it wasn't making Echo burn inside at the feeling. He so desperately wanted to just wrap his arms around her waist and bury his nose in her neck, fully taking in the scent that was teasing him. He didn't realise that he was just staring at Kan and trying to supress his thoughts until she had turned to look at him.

“Are you listening?” She asked plainly.

“Uh… yeah, sorry” Echo stumbled through the words, swallowing hard as he looked down into her eyes from only inches away.

“You okay?” Kan asked, her gaze flicking between Echo's eyes, which seemed full of alarm.

“What? yeah, fine” He said, finally having to look away from Kan as her stare became too intense to cope with, and he felt himself crumbling beneath it.

Kan just looked at him for a moment longer before stepping away from him and sitting on the edge of the table.

“Echo can I ask you something?”

He let his eyes find hers again, palms sweating, “I suppose”

Echo could see Kan's hesitance before she spoke, “Um, why disguise yourself as a droid?”

“Oh” Echo looked down at his disguise and the mask that was still in his hand, then back up, “I guess because I'm mostly mechanical as it is. It's easier than having to come up with an explanation as to why I'm like this”

Kan nodded, “I can understand that but…” She trailed off.

“What?”

“I don't know, I can't imagine it feels nice, mentally”

Echo was taken aback that Kan had even thought of that, his heart once again acting up as she proved her selflessness. She had thought about how it must feel for him, a man that was mostly machine, to present himself to the world as what many saw him as anyway.

“I mean… maybe, but what else could I do?”

Kan gazed at him intently, her brow setting in a straight line as she looked away sheepishly, “I didn't draw up that hand attachment for no reason”

“Why did you?” Echo couldn't stop himself from asking.

“Oh, I mean, I didn't know why you had the scomp but I figured that sometimes two hands could come in handy” Kan shrugged, then let out a little laugh at the accidental pun.

Echo chuckled, though he still pressed for more, “But… we didn't even really know each other then”

Kan looked to the ground, “Yeah, I guess I was just trying to make myself useful, and I actually had a dream about it” She chuckled, “Then I just got it in my head”

Echo’s heart skipped a beat, “You had a dream about me?”

“About making the attachment and giving it to you, yeah” Kan smiled at him.

“Did I like it? In the dream” Echo let a smile fall across his lips.

“I don't remember actually” Kan said with a finger in her chin as if trying to recall.

Echo chuckled softly, then drew his eyebrows together as his next thought formed, “I'm sorry I didn't say anything at the time, it was very kind of you to think of me and I just ignored it”

“It's okay, I know you don't like to talk about… stuff” Kan trailed off, cursing herself for even saying the words.

As Kan looked down shyly, Echo viewed her with only complete trust and adoration, and felt compelled to finally tell her the truth about himself.

“It was the Separatists, that made me like this” He confessed, and Kan's eyes snapped up to his. She stayed quiet to let him continue, “I got myself… blown up, on a mission, and the Techno Union took whatever was left of me and made me into…” He gestured to himself.

“I'm so sorry that happened to you Echo” Kan said with the utmost sincerity.

Echo was sick of the pitying looks, and now he especially hated it from Kan. He suddenly regretted saying anything, feeling weak in front of the one person he was determined to appear strong in front of. Though, by her nature, Kan had something else to say.

“But I'm very glad that you're alive. If you had died being blown up I never would have met you” She spoke so seriously, her eyes holding so much emotion. An emotion that, it seemed to Echo, appeared to be understanding.

“That's true I suppose, I am grateful to be alive, even if it's the Separatists I have to thank for it” He chuckled a little, and Kan joined him in the action, if a little sadly, then she grew more serious again as she brought her hand to her shoulder.

“The Separatists were monsters”

Echo instantly noticed the way her eyes glazed over for a moment, and how she was absent-mindedly tracing the outline of her scar. He tried to catch her eyes again for conformation of what it seemed like she was insinuating, however inadvertently.

“But I'm glad you’re here, and you know I think your attachments are pretty cool right?” Kan looked back to Echo and noticed him looking at her scar as she ran her hand along it.

Echo smirked a little, “You might have mentioned it”

Kan smirked back at him before taking a seat at the table and returning to fiddling with whatever contraption is was she was tweaking now.

“Can I ask you something too?” Echo asked, unable to help himself any longer.

“Is it about my scar?” Kan asked back almost immediately, without even looking back at him.

“Uh- yeah, but only if you feel comfortable talki-”

“It's fine” She sighed, “I got it during the war, I was on Felucia with the 41st. Apparently the Separatists had started taking prisoners by then”

“Wait, when you said you were in the war…”

Kan figured that the loth-cat was more or less out of the bag at this point, and decided that since Echo had trusted her with his secret, she'd let him into hers.

“I served as an engineer and then got trained as a field medic under Master Unduli, she all but saved me from the Separatists and I offered my services as gratitude. I don't think either of us foresaw it lasting the whole duration of the war” She ended with a small chuckle, but Echo was still stuck on what she'd said before.

“You were taken prisoner by the Separatists?”

Kan sighed, “Yeah, they insisted that I was Luminara's padawan, wanted information about her battle strategies but I resisted, which they didn't take too kindly to”

Echo sat down next to her, watching her with such understanding and a newfound reverence.

“What did they do?” He asked so quietly, almost in a whisper, as if afraid to even ask, or know.

“It was um-” She swallowed a lump in her throat, “Some sort of acid or something” She confessed, and looked to Echo to see his eyes go wide, “Yeah it wasn't fun”

“I'm so sorry that happened Kan”

Kan just smiled sadly.

Echo was floundering for the right thing to say. Instead, he just said what he was thinking, “For what it's worth, I think the scar is pretty cool”

Thankfully, her eyes lit up, “Really?”

“Yeah, makes you look tough” Echo's lips curled into a smirk.

Kan laughed, “Thanks Echo, that means a lot”

“Okay, so we're clear on the plan?”

Echo nodded, a smirk threatening to take over his lips as Kan stepped into the more militaristic side of her personality. The seriousness of her expression as she leaned over the kitchen table, pointing at a location on the holomap, was enough to drive him crazy. Now knowing where she learnt to act this way, it only made it that much more attractive to him.

“Can I get an actual affirmative on that” She asked, a little of her usual personality slipping through with the tilt of her head.

“Yes Ma'am” Echo said, unable to hold back his smirk any longer.

Kan rolled her eyes, her own smirk fighting it's way onto her face, “Okay okay, let's get going then”

Kan turned off the holomap and picked up her blaster holster from the table, slinging it around her hips and making sure it was secure. Echo watched her out of the corner of his eye as he secured his armour, and caught her eye when she did the same thing. Kan blushed furiously.

For all that she felt she made it painfully obvious, Echo seemed to be unaware of her affection for him, and unbeknownst to her, it was exactly as unaware as she was of his feelings for her. She felt that there was something unsaid between them, but she didn't know if Echo would label it the same as she would, so she left it alone.

“Alright let's go” Kan said after a moment, moving towards the door.

Echo and Kan stepped out into the dusk, a stillness hanging in the air that only felt noticeable as the rest of the world settled into sleep. They quickly made their way to the warehouse on the other side of the town, where the Empire’s main base of operations was located.

Despite Kan’s reluctancy to do it previously, they were really going in with a blaster and nothing else. It was risky, but they had figured out a way to reduce the risk a little. In Echo’s surveying, he had noticed that there was somewhat of a backdoor that was left unguarded for a few minutes when the guards changed from the day shift to the night shift, and it was something that happened everyday without fail. That would at least afford them a way inside, but from there, it was anybody’s guess as to what would happen.

They came to rest at the edge of the woods that the backdoor overlooked, and watched as the Stormtroopers there talked to each other, one of them checking the time.

“Any second now” Echo murmured, as if to try and quell his own eagerness.

A few moments later, one of the Stormtroopers nodded their head to the inside, and the other agreed, opening the door for them to finish their shift.

“Time to go” Kan whispered and quickly darted from their cover in the trees. Echo followed closely behind her, and they silently slipped inside. They found themselves in a corridor, the sound of far-off chatter bouncing around the walls.

“Where should we start?” Echo asked in a hushed voice. He figured that since Kan was the more necessary person in this mission, be able to slice through their encryption and firewalls with ease, that he would take her lead.

“In here” Kan figured they would start with the nearest door and see what they could find.

She turned her head to the door, and upon hearing nothing, opened it up. She held her blaster in front of her as she went inside, though relaxed when she saw that no one was there, and it appeared to be some kind of small barracks. She saw an imperial officer’s uniform laid out on one of the bunks and ran her fingers over the fabric, looking to Echo.

“I might as well, right? In case we get caught” She reasoned and Echo nodded, turning away to let her change.

He breathed deeply, his blaster held to his chest as he rested next to the closed door, listening for anyone incoming. Regrettably, the only thing he could focus on was the sound of Kan’s clothes falling to the floor and the rustle of her slipping on the new ones. Luckily for him, no one had come in the time that it took for her to get into the uniform.

“Okay, lets continue” Kan said, and Echo turned to look at her. She looked completely incorrect in the uniform. It fit her well enough, but even with the seriousness of her mission persona, it was far too devoid of any charm to match her in any way.

They moved out again, both of them with light footfalls and straining to listen for if anyone was coming. They made their way down a few narrow corridors before they came upon a door with a small window in it, and they could see the light of a holoscreen still lit up in the otherwise dark room. Kan entered and set her blaster down on the surface beside the screen, looking around for the computer. She found it underneath the surface and pulled out the datastick she had brought along.

“Watch the door” She spoke quietly, and Echo settled himself by the door, so that he could see out but anybody walking past wouldn’t notice him.

The computer wasn’t logged in to anything, so Kan had to slice through their decryptions, which the datastick helped with, but she hit a wall quickly.

“Kriff” She hisses quietly.

“What is it?” Echo asked, not taking his eyes away from the door.

“Nothing, it’s just going to take me a second to… nevermind got it”

Echo chuckled to himself, and Kan got to sorting through the files on the computer. There were a lot, far more than she was anticipating.

”Echo, get over here”

He obliged quickly, and came to stand behind her, leaning over her shoulder.

“There’s so many files. These one here pertain to this specific base I believe and they would take enough time to download as it is… We could really get a lot of information here, but…” She trailed off, her thoughts jumbled, “We could try and send a signal to Rex, send the files to him instead, but we don’t have the wherewithal for that right now, and it would take too long to-”

“Kan it’s fine. Lets just get the information on this base, at least for now. We can figure out more later if need be” Echo placed a hand on her shoulder and felt her relax beneath it.

“Okay, it’ll just take a few-”

Kan was interrupted by the door sliding open and an officer walking inside.

“Wha-?”

Echo acted on instinct before they could even finish the word, shooting a stun blast at them.

“Better get on with it then” He said in a strained chuckle, moving to pull the stunned body inside. He closed the door and resumed his previous position as Kan began downloading the files about the project onto the datastick. He kept half an eye on the crumpled form of the Imperial that he had positioned against the wall, and kept the rest of his attention on the corridor outside. A few people passed by; a patrol of Stormtroopers and a pair of officers, but none had noticed them inside the room. After an almost painful amount of time, Kan spoke up.

“Got it”

She removed the datastick and put it back in the pouch on her belt, and Echo checked the corridor once more before sliding the door open. Kan stepped out into the hall before him, but before he could even set one foot out the door, she pushed him back inside and closed the door. He was about to protest, open the door and ask what was going on, but he quickly saw the problem.

“I’ve not seen you here before” The officer spoke with suspicion, the Stormtroopers either side of him gripping their blasters a little harder.

“New transfer” Kan said calmly.

”What’s your rank and operating number?”

“Um… Lieutenant… Oh kark it” Kan whipped her blaster from its holster and fired a stun blast to each of the Imperials before her, then opened the door again, “We’ve got to go”

Echo clambered over the bodies that were collapsed in the hall as he followed after Kan, and they made their way back towards the way they came in, though when they got into the barracks where Kan had taken the clothes from, there was someone there.

“Hey! That's my uniform!” The woman pointed at her accusingly and Kan rolled her eyes, quickly stunning her.

She began quickly stripping off the Imperial uniform, “Didn’t suit me anyway”

Echo turned away, a small laugh escaping his lips at how relaxed she seemed in the situation that was anything but. After she was back in her own clothes, they left out the door they had entered, stunning the night shift guards who had since taken their post. The two of them ran back to their dwelling, circling around the outskirts of the town and through every secluded back alley and side street that they could.

technical devotion, part eleven: co-existing

content warnings: nightmares, canon-typical violence

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The light of the holoprojector flickered, the image of Rex quivering in the darkened kitchen, the curtains pulled and shutters bolted closed.

“So you’re saying they’ve already built this weapon?” Rex asked, his brow set in a straight line.

“I’m not sure. I believe they have fully realised the tech, as there was some disturbance to devices that were nearby to their warehouse, but I’d wager it would take a lot longer to figure out how to harness that power into a projectile of some kind” Kan replied.

“How do you think they would do that?”

Kan sighed deeply, pulling together her thoughts, “From what I can gather from their reports, the material that they have been mining here is something that draws electrical charge naturally, the material itself is recorded as having disturbed their equipment, and it is located in a place that is somewhat of a local legend. The people here believe that something, some kind of god perhaps, is behind the disturbance, but once the Empire began digging about, they found a repository of this… material, mineral, metal - I’m not sure entirely what it is exactly, their reports are rather vague. The issue is… well, a bigger issue, is that the material seems to store what electrical charge it takes to some extent, so if they were able to create some kind of canon for this, a projectile containing this material could disable a ship, and then implode on itself - especially with the collected power of an entire ship held within it - sending back the signal and thus possibly frying the ship’s circuits, and if it were big enough, perhaps even the people inside would be affected. It could be devastating. Especially to any kind of large ship such as a venator, or something of a similar size which would usually be able to fend off small fighters with no problems”

Rex blew out a long breath, “Kriffing hell”

“Yeah. Kriffing hell” Kan sighed, leaning onto the kitchen table to steady herself.

“This is certainly not what I expected when I sent you guys there, I would’ve sent others as well had I known” Rex said, and scratched the stubble of his five o’clock shadow. He looked particularly worn down, and Kan felt awful to have to put this weight on his shoulders as well. “I need to think on this. I’ll talk to the others and see what they think, and I’ll call you within a few rotations once we have a plan. For now, hang tight and do what you can, but don’t take any drastic action without consulting me first”

“Yes sir” Kan nodded.

“Alright. Good work you two, I’ll see you in a few rotations”

The image of Rex flickered and cut out, enveloping the room in darkness. Kan looked over to Echo, who had been mostly silent during the call, electing to let Kan explain her findings. He didn’t think of himself as stupid when it came to technological pursuits, but with Kan in the room it was hard not to feel that way. After all, Rex had chosen Kan specifically for this mission because of her knowledge of the subject, and with the information they had found, he was now definitely more than a little out of his depth.

“I’ll go and open the windows” He said quietly, and walked over to the door.

He made his way around the kitchen, opening up the shutters and pulling open the curtains from the outside to let some air into the room that had become stuffy, whether because the windows were closed or because the subject of the call was so heavy, he didn’t know. When he made his way back inside, Kan was already back to tinkering with her own tech disruption project, soldering together all the aspects that made up one part of it. Echo saw her lick her lips and instinctively filled a cup with water, placing it next to her working hands on the table.

Since they had been confined in the same space for so long, both Kan and Echo had begun to pick up on little things that the other did. For Kan, it was that when she licked her lips while she was working it meant that she was thirsty. Kan had no idea what her tell was, and was astounded that Echo seemed to realise she was thirsty before she even realised herself, placing a cup of water beside her without so much as a word. For Echo, it was that when he was cold, he would rub his neck a certain way, as if containing a shiver, and Kan would offer him a blanket or a heatpad.

It was these little actions that made their time together so seamless. They seemed to co-exist so naturally, never stepping on each others toes, always having pleasant conversation, and knowing when what was preferred was a comfortable silence.

“Thanks” Kan smiled up at Echo as he sat across from her, and he gave her a small smile.

Echo watched Kan work, admiring how easily her nimble fingers worked, how steady her hands were.

“How did you get into this sort of stuff” He asked after a while.

Kan looked up momentarily, “My dad ran a repairs shop, I just picked up a lot of stuff from him”

“Is that where Master Unduli found you?”

“No” Kan shook her head, dropping the tools in her hands, “When the war came about I left home, I guess I was searching for some kind of purpose but I was just travelling around doing repairs and odd jobs for people, when Luminara came along I figured there wasn't really any better way I could help the war effort”

Echo nodded and Kan resumed her work again. He really found her drive admirable, her desire to do the right thing, or to be a part of something important, something that meant something. She had joined the Grand Army of the Republic, and now she was here, fighting alongside him and his brothers once more, for seemingly the same reason as before - the Republic. He couldn’t help but want to know more about her, about her childhood and her time in the war, but he didn’t want to push, especially as he knew it could be a particularly sore subject for her.

“Kan, what's your real name?” He asked instead.

She smirked a little as she looked up at him, “It's Kandam'aira. Kandam'aira Hynzir” She watched as Echo’s mouth hung open, almost imperceptibly. “It's a lot I know” She shrugged, a little nervously as she knew people didn’t often try to use her full name.

“How do you say it again?” Echo asked, bringing a warmth to her chest.

“Kandam'aira”

He sounded it out by each syllable, “Kan-dan-ei-ra?”

“Almost” Kan smiled encouragingly, “This is how it's spelled”

She pulled her datapad from the mess beside her and opened up a new file, typing out the spelling in aurebesh. She turned the screen to face him, and Echo read it a few times, turning it over in his head, “Kandam'airra”

“It's more… -ŕa, small roll on the R”

“Kandam'aira?” He said perfectly, and Kan smiled.

“Yeah that's it”

“It's really pretty” He looked up to her from the datapad, and Kan blushed a bit.

“Thanks, it's not as cool as Echo but it's whatever” She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

“Echo isn't cool” He laughed, “It sounds better when you say it though”

“Oh? Why's that?” Kan asked innocently, her gaze inquisitive.

“Uh- your accent, you have a nice voice” Echo admitted, clearing his throat afterwards.

“Oh” Kan blushed again, “Thank you”

She got on with her soldering again, this time with flushed cheeks, and Echo smirked to himself upon noticing it. It made him feel like being a little bolder.

“Why don't you go by your full name?”

“It's just long and people get it wrong all the time. I won't correct them on it either, so it's just easier”

“Why won't you correct them?”

“I just don't want the confrontation”

Echo smirked, “You corrected me”

“Well you're different” She said with no hesitation.

Echo’s eyebrows shot up, “I am?”

His tone was curious in a particular way, and Kan looked up at him briefly to catch his smirk.

“Uh- Yeah” She gulped, looking down to her work again.

“How so?” Echo pressed, and Kan found it hard to keep her skin from blushing even further.

“I don't know, you're like, easy to talk to, or something”

“Or something” He mumbled with a smirk, “Can I call you Kandam'aira?”

She gulped again, refusing to meet his gaze, “If you want to”

“I think it suits you better than just Kan”

“Really? Why?” She looked up at him briefly, to see that his face was still maddeningly and enticingly pulled into a smirk.

“Because it's a beautiful name”

Kan’s heart hammered in her chest, unsure if Echo really meant what it sounded like he was saying. She just stayed quiet, not looking at him, and feeling her whole body heat up as her blush infected her.

Echo bit the inside of his cheek, following up with, “If that's okay to say”

“Of course it's okay, I dont think I've ever been complimented on my name before”

Echo chuckled, “I wasn't really talking about your name that time”

Kan looked to him, and he stared back at her intently, a small smile gracing his lips.

“Oh” She looked down to her work again with small smile.

Echo watched her, his heart soaring with adoration as she fumbled over her project. For the first time, Echo allowed himself to think, pretend even, that Kan maybe liked him in the way he liked her.

She was running, faster than she had ever run before. She had to escape them.

Their blaster bolts flew all around her as she wound her way around the large trees of Kashyyyk's forest. They were getting further and further away, but she didn't stop running.

Her lungs burned, her limbs ached, but she had to hide.

As she turned to look back at her pursuers, a bolt came straight at her head. She evaded it in time, enough to not be killed at least, but a sharp pain seared at the edge of her cheek. She brought her hand to the pain, and in her distracted state, she tripped over a root. Before she could scramble to her feet again, a foot was pressed to her stomach, keeping her back flat against the mossy undergrowth.

“Kandam’aira Hynzir, you are a traitor to the Empire and shall be dealt with as such”

Her best friend, her ori’vod, Spider, stood above her, blaster pointed at her head.

“Spider please. What’s happening? What Empire?” She trembled. It was hard not to let the fear wash over her like a tidal wave at the sight above her and the feel of his boot heel digging into her.

“Quiet!” He hissed.

She could see the tremble in his hands, and a single tear slipped from his eye. He should have taken the shot by now, but he just stood above her, waiting to find it within himself to do it, or possibly fighting that part of him with everything he had, she didn’t know which.

“Spider please, it’s me, it’s Kan”

“I know who you are, traitor” He spoke with such venom that she almost didn’t recognise him. Spider was soft, he was loving and he cared for her like nothing else. Who was this above her? He had the webbed scar splayed across his jaw that would set him apart from not only his brothers, but every other human, and yet, she couldn’t recognise him anymore.

“Spider” She whispered, her voice displaying every ounce of terror that she felt.

Spider’s first finger pressed into the trigger, still shaking, and a bolt flew right towards her head.

Kan sat up in bed, thrown from her dream. She took a shaky breath and raked her hand through her hair, unsticking the few small strands that had clung to the sweat on her forehead.

It had been a while since she had had a nightmare, and even longer since she had dreamt of that moment.

Kan lifted herself from her bed and tiptoed downstairs, filling a cup of water from the tap. She took a few gulps from it and settled herself in her usual chair, situating herself among the familiarity and comfortability of her work. It was still dark out, the stars of systems far away twinkling brightly at her through the window. She felt the gentle chill of the breeze passing through the window and sighed deeply, centring herself in the moment. That’s when she heard talking coming from Echo’s room.

She didn’t want to eavesdrop, but she wondered who he was talking to so late at night. However, when she pressed her ear to the door she could only hear incoherent mumbling, and she could hear Echo shifting around in his bedsheets. She cracked open the door, and her heart clenched at the sight of him. His face was twisted in agony, and writhing around as if trying to break free from something.

Kan approached the bed, “Echo, wake up” She gently placed a hand on his arm, but he didn’t wake, only breathing more raggedly. She sat down on the edge of the bed, her other hand finding itself on his face, “Echo! Wake up!” She said more firmly.

Echo sat up suddenly, his eyes wild and breath uneven. Upon realising Kan was there, he moved away from her, shame burning at his cheeks.

“I’m fine, go back to sleep” He managed to mumble out, trying to compose himself.

“I wasn't asleep, I heard you mumbling and just wanted to make sure you were okay” Kan spoke ever so softly, “You were having a nightmare?”

Echo refused to look at her, “Yes, but I'm fine, you should get some sleep”

“Echo” Kan placed a hand on his arm again, and he reluctantly raised his eyes to hers, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really” He mumbled, looking away again.

“Will it continue if you go back to sleep?”

“I- I don't know, maybe”

“Would you like me to stay with you?”

Echo’s eyes snapped up to Kan’s, “You don't have to do th-”

“Would you like me to?”

He could see such kindness and concern on her face and he desperately craved the comfort of her, so he nodded, “Yes, please”

Kan smiled and made her way around to the other side of the bed while Echo laid down again. She gently climbed into the bed beside him, with him faced away from her. The feel of the dip in the bed, the feel of her being there, was all too much and not enough at the same time.

“Echo”

He hummed quietly in response.

“Can you look at me please?”

He stiffened, but turned over in the bed, looking at her timidly

“Please never feel ashamed in front of me Echo. I would like you to trust me, if you can”

“I do trust you” He said without hesitation.

“I'm glad” Kan smiled. She then grew more serious and bashful, and Echo watched her toy with an idea in her head for a few moments, “Echo, would you…” She bit the inside of her cheek, and her sharp green eyes looked up at him, softened with tenderness, “Would you hold me?”

Echo melted at her expression, the last memories of his nightmare being chased away by the vulnerability in front of him. He nodded and opened his arm for her, and she quickly buried her face in his chest. He leaned into her as well, enveloping her in his embrace and sighing contentedly at the feeling of her gripping to his shirt. He then remembered something she had said previously and frowned.

“Are you okay? Why weren’t you asleep?” He asked, and felt her sigh against him.

“I had a nightmare too” She admitted and Echo instinctively tightened his arm around her.

He tilted his head so he spoke down into her hair, “Do you want to talk about it?”

She shook her head quickly, “No, just-” She nestled in closer to him, wrapping her legs in his mechanical ones, “Just hold me”

Echo’s heart swelled and ached all at once, and in that moment he decided that he must get Kan to make the arm attachment for his scomp, that he must feel her with two hands, and be able to hold her properly if she asked again.

“Are you comfortable?” He whispered, painfully aware of how cold his metal limbs could be.

“Yes, very”

He could feel her smile a little bit against him, and he let a small chuckle escape his lips. Kan could feel the vibrations of it in his chest and snuggled in as close as she could.

technical devotion, part twelve: handy

content warnings: order 66 mentioned, echo being sexy (what's new)

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Echo awoke to the sound of clinking of dishes in the kitchen as he often did, though this time he felt more at peace.

He cracked open one eye and sighed, finding that Kan had already left his bed. He knew that much already, the sounds that had woken him making it obvious, but he was still disappointed nonetheless. He rolled over onto his front and took a deep breath, breathing in the comfort of the bed for one more moment before he got up. He could still smell Kan’s scent lingering on the pillow she had slept on, and his heart clenched. He couldn’t exactly place what it was, perhaps a mix of fried wires and something else, but it was undeniably her.

Echo rose from his bed, and stumbled into the kitchen to find Kan curled up in her usual seat, a cup of caf in one hand and datapad in the other. She looked up to him as he entered, a smile quirking the edges of her lips.

“Morning”

“Morning” Echo returned the smile, moving to get himself a cup of caf. He turned away from her as his thoughts from last night consumed him.

Before he fell asleep, the only thing he could think of, with Kan pressed up against him, was how much he wanted to get the hand attachment that she had drawn up before. He chewed on his bottom lip as he thought on how to bring it up, but came to the conclusion that there was really no way to ask without just coming out and saying it. He turned around and watched Kan for a moment as she scrolled through her datapad. She was usually already stuck into her work by this time, and Echo wondered if her sleep had been better than usual, as his had.

“Kandam'aira” He got her attention with the use of her full name, and she looked up from her datapad, a soft smile gracing her features as she waited patiently for him to talk. “I was wondering…” He trailed off for a moment, “Do you still have the plans for that arm attachment?”

Kan’s eyes lit up, and she placed her caf down on the table as she nodded quickly.

“Would you… Would you make it for me?” He asked hesitantly.

“I'd love to! Thank you Echo” She spoke excitedly, and Echo laughed at her eagerness.

“I think I'm the one that should be thanking you” He raised an eyebrow at her but she waved him off.

“Nonsense” She stood from her chair and dropped her datapad onto the table, “I'm going to buy the parts now”

Kan grabbed her poncho and rushed to the door, but Echo quickly strode after her, calling for her to wait. She turned and saw Echo rummaging around in his pockets, pulling out some credits.

“I've got credits” She smiled sweetly, turned and opened the door, but Echo put his arm in the way, blocking the exit.

“Take them, please”

Kan looked up at him, and her breath caught in her throat. She admired the way that the early morning sun hit his skin, carving out his cheekbones and sharp jaw, the warmth bringing out the honey tones in his soft brown eyes. She felt that he always looked at her with such purpose, a purpose which, maddeningly, eluded her. Sometimes it felt like she knew exactly what he was thinking, reacting to his actions and comments in the correct manner, but other times, she had no idea at all. This was one of those times. The emotion in his eyes was so loud, and yet, she couldn’t tell what it was.

“Alright” She smiled, and took the credits from his hand.

She slipped on her poncho as she stepped out into the morning breeze, smiling back at Echo. He watched her go with hurried steps and smiled fondly, biting the inside of his cheek to stop it from overtaking his whole face.

“Can I ask what changed your mind?” Kan asked Echo as she worked on his new arm that evening.

Echo knew he couldn’t tell Kan the real reason, and he suddenly felt ridiculous for even thinking it himself.

When he didn't reply, Kan looked up to see Echo staring at her, “What?”

He shook his head to refocus and shrugged, “I guess I figured that it would come in handy, like you said”

Kan nodded and resumed working, “I've been going over the design the whole time, just in case you decided you wanted it, I wanted to have figured it out already”

Echo's heart swelled, but he kept his voice plain as he asked “Have you made other cybernetics before?”

“Yeah, my mother has a cybernetic leg, I helped design it with my father when I was thirteen” Kan replied.

“Thirteen?” Echo said in surprise.

“Yeah” Kan chuckled a little, “I've done a few others here and there as well, a couple shoulders, an eye, but never an arm before now”

“Well, I'm honoured” Echo smiled sincerely and she looked up to him again.

“Wait til I've done it before you say that” She chuckled, “It'll only take me another two rotations, I think”

“I hope you're accounting for sleep in that calculation” He said knowingly.

“Alright, three rotations then” She grinned at him.

As they settled into silence, both Kan and Echo’s thoughts dwelled on the previous night.

“Do you have a lot of nightmares?” Echo asked, unable to stop himself.

Kan sighed a little, “Not so much anymore, but still every so often”

Echo nodded in understanding, “Me too” He said quietly, pausing before his next question, “What are they about?”

“Um, sometimes it's my time being tort- Uh, questioned by the Separatists, sometimes it's… order 66”

Echo sat forward in his seat, his eyes wide and searching hers “You were there for order 66?”

Kan looked away from his sudden intense stare, “Yeah, I was super confused, I tried to stop the clones but them um-” She gulped, “They fired on me instead, for being a ‘traitor’ supposedly”

Echo’s heart broke at her expression, and overwhelming sadness taking over her features.

“I ran away. I should've stood my ground and fought back but I couldn't- I couldn't hurt them, they were my friends”

“I'm so sorry Kandam'aira” Echo said quietly, wanting to reach out and comfort her.

Kan’s heart skipped a beat, still not used to hearing her full name “It's not your fault, you know that”

“I know but… I'm just… I'm sorry you had to go through that”

“I can't imagine it was any more fun for you” Kan said pointedly.

“My chip didn't activate"

“It didn't?”

Echo shook his head, “I guess I have the Separatists to thank for that”

It went quiet again for a moment, the two of them just looking at each other with a deep understanding of the other’s experience.

“What are your nightmares about?” Kan asked him softly.

Echo answered without hesitation, trusting her implicitly, “Flashes of what the Techno Union did to me, I don't really remember any of it apart from in my dreams”

Kan just nodded, she had assumed that might be the case.

“Well, I'm going to hit the hay” Echo stood up and walked over to his door. He desperately wanted to ask her to stay with him again, but held himself back for fear that it was only a one time thing to Kan.

“I'm just going to spend a little longer on this” Kan gestured to her work.

“Alright, make sure you get some sleep” He gave her a mockingly stern look.

“I will” She smiled, “Goodnight Echo”

“Goodnight M'aira”

Kan looked at him in surprise as his eyes went wide, “Uh, sorry, I mean… Kandam'aira” He finished quietly.

She smiled at him once more, “No, I like it” She said thoughtfully.

Echo breathed out, his own smile returning, “Alright then, goodnight M'aira”

Kan had to bite back the grin threatening to take over her face as she watched him retire to his room.

Echo couldn't sleep straight away, and laid awake just staring up at the ceiling. He couldn't get Kan out of his mind, partly because he could hear the feint sounds of her tinkering in the kitchen, making something for him, and also because her scent was completely enveloping him. It was intoxicating, he couldn't think about anything else. It occurred to him then that Kan had become an integral part of his life, and he could no longer imagine it without her in.

His heart almost hurt at the realisation. There was no guarantee that she would stay in it for any great length.

He was pulled from self-concious thoughts as he heard the scrape of a chair in the kitchen. He heard Kan's footsteps, walking up to his door and then stopping. He held his breath. He then heard Kan sigh and move away, trudging up the stairs to her own room.

Echo spent the rest of the night thinking of ways that he could keep Kan around for longer.

The next few days were quite quiet.

As they were waiting on Rex to get back to them, both Kan and Echo mostly remained at the house. Echo had taken to exercising just outside the house to occupy his time, which only distracted Kan.

She had a perfect view of the tree where he was doing pull ups. With his scomp, he only had one hand to pull up with, but he was still doing it as if it was easy. Kan simply couldn't look away, especially as he was only wearing a vest. She watched as his muscles stretched and contracted, in complete awe and a feeling she understood all too well settled in the bottom of her stomach. She had to close the curtain so she could get on with her work with no distractions.

She knew that Echo was a soldier, an ARC trooper no less, so it shouldn't be surprising to her that he was incredibly fit, but it was still a lot to actually see in action. He usually looked just lean, but when he was actually using his muscles, it sure didn't seem that way anymore. When he would come inside, body glistening with sweat and chest heaving from exertion, Kan became extremely flustered, and found herself unable to engage in conversation with him until he changed.

Kan found herself completely ridiculous. She should be able to control herself, her thoughts, but she knew that moments of rationality when it came to how she felt about Echo were few and far between.

Echo was completely unaware that he was driving Kan crazy, and continued with his workouts for the next few days. He noticed that Kan had started closing the curtains, but it didn't occur to him that it was linked. He asked her about it, but she didn't really seem to have a reason other than ‘Why not?’. He didn't press.

In those few days, Kan had managed to finished Echo's new scomp attatchment. She ventured outside with a wide grin, and found him doing one arm push ups.

“Echo” She gained his attention, and he looked up as he pushed himself from the ground, coming to kneel as she approached.

“Whats up?” He asked, his voice breathy as he breathed deeply.

“I finished it” She held out the attachment proudly, pushing down any unwanted thoughts about the way he looked right now. Echo stood up with an apprehensive smile, and Kan stepped forward, “May I?”

Echo nodded and Kan took his scomp in her hand and positioned the attachment at the end, sliding it on with ease. She had measured the size before she began so it would fit perfectly, and it did.

“I made it so that you can just twist this part back and use the scomp, rather than having to take it off all the time, and that disengages the hand so it won't feel weird when you do it. It also has this button here, which turns on the signal disruptor, and then this is the comm here” She explained, and Echo watched her hands work around his new arm, his heart beating at an elevated pace.

“You really think of everything huh?” He grinned, looking up at her, his head still tilted to the attatchment.

Kan looked up to his boyish expression and tried to fight the blush creeping up her neck. “I try” She said sheepishly, stepping back a little, “How does it feel”

Echo tried to give his new fingers an experimental wiggle, and the first two twitched slightly. They both smiled excitedly at one another.

“It will take a little while to get acclimatised” She informed him and he tried again, getting a little more movement, “Can you feel anything yet?”

“Uh…” He couldn't really tell too much, but reached out his arm, “Give me your hand”

Kan hesitated, but placed her hand in his new cybernetic one. It was cold and smooth.

Echo smiled a little, “I can feel something I think”

“Good” Kan smiled, gripping his hand a little tighter, “It will be like your legs I imagine, not fully the same amount of feeling but still, some semblance of it”

Echo nodded and tried to squeeze Kan’s hand, not getting much strength behind it, but Kan could feel him trying, and that was enough to make her stomach to fill with butterflies.

“Thank you so much M'aira” He suddenly said very seriously, and Kan dragged her eyes back to his to see them swimming with something she couldn't define. This was one of those times where she didn't know what to say.

“It's no problem, I hope it works well for you” Kan smiled. It was nice to have her work appreciated at the very least.

“I'm sure it will” He smiled, giving another test squeeze to her hand, this one stronger than the last.

Kan gasped at the feeling, and Echo's eyebrows raised a little, not expecting her to react in such a way.

“I’m sorry, I-”

“Don't be” She smiled tightly and took back her hand, “It's nice. I mean, it's good to know it's working, you know?”

Echo tilted his head a little, watching her nervously stumble through her words, “Alright, I'll keep testing it"

“Yeah cool” Kan rubbed her neck nervously, “Um, you can always try on my hand again if you want”

Echo couldn't hold back his smirk, “I think I'll take you up on that”

Kan just gulped and turned back towards the house without saying anything, and Echo laughed to himself. Kan had been extremely skittish the past few days. He had no idea why, but he couldn't deny he found her fidgeting to be extremely cute.

technical devotion, part thirteen: leaving

a/n: this is kind of filler. kind of. not my best work also but alas

content warnings: none :)

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“Hey Captain” Kan smiled at the small hologram Rex that sat atop the kitchen table.

“Hey Kan, Echo, sorry it took longer than expected to get back to you - there's been a lot of back and forth about what to do” Rex sighed, “We've decided to pull you out”

“What?” Echo frowned deeply.

“I'm sorry Echo, but we’ve decided that there’s not much more that you two can do on your own, and the information you've got for us already exceeds what we expected when we sent you, so you should return by the next rotation”

“Are you sure there's nothing more we can do? There was a lot of data in that base that we could still access” Kan tried to bargain.

“You've done enough, and we could use you back at base to be honest” Rex scratched his head, “There's a possibility of returning with an infiltration team later but that's a conversation for another time”

“Rex, please, there so much-”

“Echo look, if it were just up to me I'd let you stay, but it's not, so I need you back” Rex cut him off, “And I don't want you sneaking behind our backs and going back in anyway, alright?”

Echo sighed and nodded.

“Do I have your word?” Rex asked, knowing his brother all too well.

“You have my word” Echo said begrudgingly.

“Okay. I'll see you two back here soon”

The connection cut out and Rex's figure disappeared. Echo sighed deeply and sat down at the table, going to say something before Kan cut him off.

“I know” She said simply, giving him a sympathetic look, “I know, but you gave Rex your word”

Echo bit the inside of his cheek as he looked up at her, “Maybe I shouldn't have”

“Echo…” Kan sat down beside him, “We'll get another chance, we can push to come back”

Echo sighed again and looked away from Kan. He didn't want to admit it, but he was more reluctant to leave because of the living arrangements rather than the possible data they could obtain from the Empire's base. He enjoyed living with Kan, always being around her, and just her. He didn't want to go back to the base when everything felt as if it had changed so much here, that he had changed. He was so hyper-aware of his shifting priorities, but he couldn't stop it happening. He now cared more to keep Kan safe than to bring the Empire to its knees. Of course, he would like to do both, but he worried that one would eventually come at the expense of the other, and he couldn't bare the idea of either outcome.

“I have an idea” Kan said, interrupting his troubling thoughts. Echo looked up to see a glimmer of mischief in her eyes.

“Will I like this idea?” Echo replied, his eyebrow arched knowingly.

“Maybe not at first… but hopefully I can persuade you”

Echo turned to look at her properly, “What does that mean?”

“I figure that, since it's our last night here, we should do something” She said, a smile creeping across her face.

“Something…?” Echo questioned.

“Well, when I went out with Cap- Commander Levy, we went to this really charming bar, and I thought maybe we could get a drink there?” Kan said, trying her best to stay confident, but she felt shy in even asking to begin with.

“You want to get a drink with me?” Echo asked, a little surprised.

“Yeah why not? It could be fun” Kan shrugged, as if it was just a casual request.

“Um… I can't really drink in my droid mask” Echo stated.

“Well I really meant for you to go without your disguise” Kan subtly chewed on her lip.

“But I-”

“I just thought, you were worried about people asking about your scomp right? And you don't have it on show anymore so maybe you could come out as… you?”

The look in Kan's eyes was so hopeful that Echo couldn't deny her, “Okay, but- um, what about my… head stuff”

“It's fine, I'm sure people won't think about it” Kan smiled, “Besides, if anyone wants to comment on it I'll tell them to kriff off”

Echo chuckled, “I can't say no now I suppose”

“No, you can't” Kan smiled and jumped from her chair, “I'll go get ready, see you in like… 10 minutes”

Echo stifled a laugh as Kan scampered up the stairs and slammed the door to her room closed.

He breathed out a deep sigh and took off his headgear. Kan just asked me to get a drink? Together? He tried not to read into it. Kan is just friendly, we're friends, going out to a bar to have drinks. As friends. No big deal. Safe to say, he was making a big deal out of it anyway. He looked down at the floor, his head feeling heavy and weighed down by the sheer amount of things popping into his head. Kriffing relax.

Echo was pulled from his thoughts at the sound of Kan coming down the stairs, and his heart stopped when he looked up at her. She wore a simple red dress that hung around her figure perfectly and ended mid-calf, her boots disappearing above the hem, with a lacey white tie at the waist. She had applied some makeup that accentuated her eyes and cheekbones, and Echo found himself completely mesmerised.

“I got this dress the other day at the market, do you think it's appropriate for the bar?” She asked, doing a little spin.

Echo couldn't speak. His words caught in his throat until Kan looked up at him nervously.

“You look beautiful M'aira”

It was the only thing in his mind, the only thing he could conceivably say.

Kan blushed furiously, “Oh, thank you Echo”

Echo couldn't stop staring at her, and Kan became more and more nervous under his gaze. He looked completely awestruck, and it made her feel completely alive and frozen at the same time.

“Shall we go?” She peeped out, sounding more weak than she had wished.

Echo shook his head slightly and cleared his throat, “Yeah, let's”

The bar was dark, as it had been the first time Kan had gone there, and Echo was thankful for that. Despite Kan's assurances, he was still nervous about how people would react to the cerebral parts of his cybernetic makeup. He could imagine the things they were thinking as he walked in beside her, the most beautiful person he had ever seen. What's he doing with her.

Kan had no such thoughts in her head, she was only glad that this time she was at the bar with someone she truly liked, someone she felt comfortable with. She looked up to him beside her and noted his discomfort immediately.

“What's wrong?” She asked, gently placing her hand on his new cybernetic arm.

Echo looked down at her beside him and felt his worries ease just a little. “Nothing” He smiled weakly, “What can I get you to drink?”

Kan smiled at the stark difference between him and the last man who had accompanied her here. She didn't mean to compare them, but it just reminded her of why she liked Echo so much.

Kan shook her head, “I'll get the drinks, I was the one that suggested it after all”

“I don't think so” Echo smirked a bit, and placed his new hand on the small of her back, guiding her towards an empty booth near the back of the bar. She was startled initially, but relaxed into his touch and sat down in the booth once they arrived.

“Now-” He placed his hand on the table and leaned down to Kan's level as he spoke, “What can I get you?”

Kan was flustered by his behaviour but replied with her order, “I don't know, um, wine of some kind”

“Some kind?”

“Yeah whatever, I'm not fussy”

“Alright, coming right up” He replied, and walked over to the bar to order.

Kan's heart felt like it was trying to escape her chest, beating so fast she could feel it throughout her body. She couldn't say she didn't enjoy it when Echo was more physically comfortable with her, but it sure made her body act up. She couldn't help but think about what it might be like to kiss him, what her body would do then.

She shook her head to banish the thoughts as she heard someone call out her fake name. She looked up to see her previous date to the bar walking towards the booth.

“Commander” She greeted him with a gracious smile, one that Echo could see was forced when he came back to the table.

“Where is your husband tonight my dear” The Commander asked, almost challenging her it seemed.

“He-”

“I'm right here”

They both looked over his shoulder to see Echo returning with two drinks in hand. He placed Kan's in front of her and sat down beside her, placing his arm around her waist.

“It's a pleasure” Commander Levy spoke with a tight jaw, holding his hand out to Echo, “You're a lucky man”

“I know” Echo didn't shake his hand and instead held Kan tighter, pressing his temple into hers.

Echo and Commander Levy exchanged a few more words, but Kan tuned them out, albeit unintentionally. She couldn't focus at all. Echo was pressed up against her, and drawing small circles on her waist with the thumb of the cybernetic she had made for him. The intimacy of that notion wasn't lost on her, and she felt her body heating up as she dwelled on it more.

She didn't even realise Commander Levy was gone, or that Echo was talking to her, until he squeezed her tighter for a second. She met his eyes with hers and with how close they were, he could see how startled she looked.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, fine” She said, a little more breathless than she intended, “You didn't have to do that by the way”

“It's okay, I just wanted him to leave us alone really” Echo shrugged slightly.

Kan smiled up at him and then looked away as her cheeks heated up, realising that he was still holding her tightly. She edged a little closer to him as she took her wine glass in her hand, and they began talking as if it were normal for them to be in this position.

They talked as they usually did, swapping stories from their pasts, and as they drank more alcohol, their laughter turned to giggling and they became even more relaxed around each other, and Kan found herself leaning into Echo and resting her head on his shoulder when she felt tired.

“Shall we head back?” He asked quietly, speaking right into her ear, which made Kan hum contentedly and close her eyes.

“I like your voice” She replied, opening her eyes to look up at him.

Echo just chuckled, “You mean, you like clone voices?”

She shook her head, “No, yours is different. It's… warmer”

Echo had certainly never had anything about him described as ‘warm’, and he realised that even through his slightly altered state of mind.

“Alright, I think we should get home now” He said, gently taking Kan's head from his shoulder.

Kan huffed slightly, but followed him anyway as he left the booth anyway, a little unsteady before she found her footing. They exited the bar and into the cool air outside, winding their way back to their dwelling to spend their last night there.

Kan slipped her hand into Echo's as they walked, and he looked down at her suspiciously. They had had the same amount of drinks, but it was clear that Echo could handle his liquor a lot better than her, which made sense as she was at least half a foot shorter than him.

He decided to let himself indulge in the feel of her hand in his, even if it was for just for the walk home and never again.

Leaving the house the next morning proved more troublesome than Kan had realised, or was initially willing to let on. As they walked away, she turned and stood looking back at it.

“I'll miss it here, I'll miss-” She stopped herself, looking up at Echo who had stopped next to her, “You're a good housemate Echo, I'd live with you again”

Echo gave her a warm smile, “Well, we do sort of live together back at the base”

She laughed, “I suppose that's true”

“You know, if you actually slept in your bed like you're supposed to then you'd even sleep next to me every night” He smirked a little.

Kan's smile faltered, before it then got wider, “You're right” She said and moved away from the house, heading towards where they hid the ship, “That's as good a reason as any to sleep there”

Echo bit into his lip to stop himself saying anything more, for fear of misinterpretation, or overstepping any boundaries, but he was starting to think it was possible that it wasn't just him that harboured more-than-friendly feelings in his and Kan’s relationship.

technical devotion, part fourteen: changes

a/n okay so I have no restraint, I uploaded the last chapter and then immediately wrote this and am posting it immediately. also I am sorry I cannot write lingering conflict, I have no backbone. also new banner!! bc I'm indecisive. now that you know all my issues, enjoy!

warnings: depiction of a panic attack, smoking

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Echo had expected things to be different when him and Kan got back to base, but he hadn't expected it to be so immediate.

They had barely set one foot inside before they were whisked into command, where Kan was informed that her skillset would prove useful for mission planning, and that she would take on more responsibility from now on, gaining the unofficial rank of Sergeant. She had been honoured, of course, but it felt like something that was very much out if her comfort zone. She wasn't a leader, she was a follower, and that's how she liked it. Though, if Rex had faith in her, she trusted his judgement.

Echo was happy that he'd be working with Kan more regularly now, but so was almost everyone else in the room. He couldn't blame his brothers, she was gorgeous, and almost elusive to most of them, having never spoken to them. He watched on painfully as she reunited with Howzer, jumping into his open arms and hugging him tightly, and as they stayed touching each other, catching up excitedly.

Then he watched her reunite with her other friends from across the mess, Oscar ruffling her hair as he hugged her from the side, and Teddy high-fiving her and embracing her for good measure for beating Howzer to a proper command position.

Echo felt so foolish.

Foolish that he thought he was special because she was kind to him, foolish that he thought he was lucky to get to experience her touch, and foolish for ever even entertaining the idea that she could possibly harbour feelings for him.

Kan was kind, but she gave out her kindness to everyone without exception. That's what made it so hard for Echo to feel negatively about her - it wasn't her fault, it was his. His mistake.

And now it was too late to do anything about it.

He had fallen for her. Hard. And now he would have to carry on as if she was any other person at the base. He didn't know if he could, and so, reluctantly, he tried to distance himself from her.

Kan noticed immediately when Echo started pulling away. For one, whenever he had to address her in the command centre, he would call her ‘Kan’. She didn't mind of course, it was her name after all, but she had got used to him calling her ‘M'aira’, and she much preferred when he called her that. He was the only one who did, and that's what made it special.

He also never came to see her in her office, never said a word if she ever sat with Rex and Gregor at meal times, never spoke to her before bed, and she hadn't looked into his eyes since the day they got back. It hurt her a lot, and the only logical conclusion she could draw was that he was embarrassed of her. Embarrassed to call her M'aira, embarrassed to talk to her, and embarrassed to even look at her.

She didn't know why he felt that way, but it was obvious that whatever bond they had created during their time away from base was just a one sided thing. That it hadn't meant anything to Echo.

Between that and her new command position, Kan was extremely stressed out.

Her brain was going at a klick a minute, unable to shut off from either mission plans or Echo. She couldn't focus, and the only respite she got was sleep but that would elude her because the cause of half her problems was sleeping right next to her. She had begun sleeping in her office again, though her back certainly wasn't happy about it.

Teddy was a perceptive clone, and he could see how haggard she had become. He contantly asked how she was, but she would always just say she was tired, that was it. She had none of the usual spring in her step, and after a couple weeks of it not going away, and only getting worse, he finally did something.

He dragged her outside after dinner, with the aim of getting her to relax. He took her over to the edge of the platform, and they sat down, looking out on the view of the deep reds and browns of the rocky terrain that surrounded the base.

“Here” He offered her his cigarra after he'd taken a drag, “To help you relax”

“No thanks” She said simply, accompanied by a weak smile.

“Kan…” Teddy began. He didn't really know what to say, but he tried his best, “What's going on with you? And I want a real answer this time”

Kan looked up at him sadly, her eyes glistening, before looking out to the view again. “I don't know, everything is just too much at the moment” She took the cigarra from his hand and took a long drag before passing it back.

Teddy watched on in worry, “What is? It might help to get it off your mind”

Kan sighed deeply, exhaling the smoke, “It sounds so ridiculous when I say it out loud though”

“I'm sure it doesn't, come on” Teddy urged, and he could see her cracking, beginning to open up.

“Well… for one, being a Sergeant is absolutely no fun” She said pointedly, and Teddy chuckled.

“Why not?”

“It's so much responsibility, I can't stop thinking about how my actions affect everyone here, how I could be the reason for someone being killed or captured by the Empire” She explained, her shoulders slumping with each word.

“Have you talked to Rex about it?” Teddy asked.

“No” Kan laughed, “I couldn't, he's such a natural, he wouldn't understand”

Teddy shook his head, “Just because he's a natural doesn't mean he lacks empathy. I'm sure he'd be able to help ease your worries”

“Maybe about that” Kan mumbled, loud enough for Teddy to hear it.

“What else is going on then?” He asked, taking another drag.

Kan looked out at the view despondently, slumped forwards onto her knees. He gave her the time to answer the question on her own time, which took longer than he was hoping.

“It's Echo” She finally whispered.

“Echo? What about him?” Teddy hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary with him.

“It's- We-” Kan sighed aggressively, “We were getting on so well during our mission, but when we came back, it's like he hated me or something. He never talks to me unless it's regarding a mission but even then it's more talking around me to other people, and he never looks at me anymore, I just-” She stopped herself before she could get choked up.

“You just what?” Teddy pressed.

Kan chewed on her lip, “I really thought he might like me back, you know?” She said quietly, and Teddy understood immediately.

He placed his arm around her shoulders and hugged her into his side. “I know, I know” He spoke soothingly, rubbing her arm.

Kan rested her head on Teddy's shoulder, “It's just embarrassing, to be wrong”

“Yeah, but hey, that's on him. If he doesn't like you, he's a di'kut”

Kan looked up and saw the small grin on Teddy's face, and her own lips curled up, “Yeah?”

“Absolutely, you're a catch” Teddy said, earning a small giggle from Kan.

“Thanks Teddy, so are you”

“I know” He smirked, resting his head against hers as they looked out again.

“Thanks for bringing me here, I really needed this” Kan spoke sincerely.

“No problem K” Teddy squeezed her slightly before standing up, “Let's go inside yeah?”

Kan didn't respond immediately, looking over the setting sun, “I think I'll just stay here for another moment, watch the sun set”

“Alright, I'll see you later then” Teddy said, giving her shoulder a supportive squeeze before walking away.

When she knew Teddy had left, Kan finally let herself cry.

She let out a choked sob, the product of bottling up her frustration, anger, sadness and embarrassment for weeks. Now that she had popped the cork, she couldn't stop the flow of tears that fell from her eyes. She pulled her knees to her chest and buried her head in them, her vision blurred and her breath ragged.

She thought of her mother and father. She wondered if they would be proud of the work she was doing. She thought of Master Unduli, she thought of Spider, she thought of Senator Organa, she thought of Rex, Howzer, Gregor, Oscar, Teddy, and finally, Echo. Every insecure thought, every nasty thing she ever had to say about herself clogged her mind in an instant, and she felt as if she couldn't breathe.

She let her legs hang over the side of the platform again and gripped the edges tightly. Her eyes were screwed shut and her breathing was only becoming more unstable, no matter how much she tried to calm it. Her stomach was in knots, she was choking on the tears that wouldn't stop falling, and her body was shaking involuntarily. She knew what this was, she had experienced them enough, and she just hoped that if she could grip the platform hard enough that it would subside quicker. She had no such luck.

She heard her name shouted, but to her it sounded feint, like she was underwater. She curled up again, facing away from the voice. She heard them again, and felt someone touch her back gently, though they might as well have struck her with lightning for how she reacted.

She flinched away, trying to find her voice, managing to choke out “Go away”

Her own voice sounded foreign to her ears in this altered state of being, but she couldn't think about it for too much longer before she was enveloped by a pair of arms. She rested her forehead on the person's chest, heaving and trying to calm herself. As she came down from the worst of it, something about the person felt so familiar, and she soon realised exactly who it was when they brought a hand to the bare skin on her back, and it was exceedingly cold and smooth.

She knocked herself backwards, falling onto her backside as she looked up at him, the catalyst of all her problems. Echo was looking down at her with worry painted on his face, and she frowned as her breathing evened out more. She scrambled from the floor and uttered apologies as she ran away from him, back towards the base.

Echo followed after her, catching up to her quickly and moving around her so he could stop in front of her.

“M'aira, what's going on? What's the matter?” He asked, placing his hands gently on either side of her arms.

Kan didn't say anything. She just stared at him, her chest heaving and a deep frown settled over her features.

“M'aira?” Echo said quietly, stepping towards her, but Kan stepped back a few paces.

“Why are you calling me that?” She tried to speak plainly, but her voice was still thick with emotion.

“What?” Echo asked, confused as to why she would ask that.

“Aren't you worried someone is going to see us talking?” She asked, her voice breaking.

Echos heart fell from his chest, “What do you mean?”

Kan could feel her bottom lip begin to quiver and she instinctively dug her teeth into it to stop it. She wasn't going to let Echo see her cry. Well, anymore than he already had.

“What’s going on M'aira, why are you upset?”

The use of the nickname once more sent her over the edge, “Because of you!” She shouted, though her anger was swallowed by embarrassment as she barged past Echo and made her way inside.

Echo stood frozen on the spot.

Because of me? But I haven't even spoken to her in… oh.

He quickly followed after her again, not entirely sure where she was headed but he hoped it was towards her office. He saw the door close from the end of the hall and heard the lock engage immediately after, something he didn't even know the door was capable of.

He knocked a few times, and heard Kan sniffle but she didn't reply.

“M'aira, please open up” He said gently, leaning his forehead on the door.

“Go away Echo” She replied, and Echo sighed deeply.

“Kandam'aira… please, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you”

The door then zipped open and he fell forwards slightly, finding himself in the room as Kan closed the door again.

“What did you mean to do?” She looked up at him sternly, her cheeks stained by tears.

“I-” He couldn't admit to his feelings right now, that would only confuse her, “I just thought you might want some space”

“Why would you think that? I thought we were friends, Echo. Friends at least look at each other from time to time”

“I know, I'm sorry, I guess I just figured that we'd been together for a while and you might be sick of me” He stated, though it came out more like a question.

“Well I don't” Kan crossed her arms, and Echo blinked at her.

“Don't what?”

Kan rolled her eyes, “I don't want space”

“Oh, right” Echo said awkwardly, and Kan felt her undeniable fondness for him returning as she looked up at his blushing cheeks.

She then quickly wrapped her arms around his torso, hugging him tightly, “I missed you”

Echo could feel his heart ache as she gripped him tightly, and he matched her hold, resting his cheek on the top of her head, “I missed you too”

Kan pulled back, looking up at him sheepishly, “I'm sorry you had to see me all…” She wiped her cheek, “Panicky”

“I don't mind, I'm just sorry that I caused it” He said, bringing his own hand up to wipe the wetness from her cheek.

Kan sighed, “It wasn't just you”

Echo gave her a questioning look and she shook her head slightly, “I'm just stressed, but I'll be fine”

“What are you stressed about?” Echo pressed.

“Nothing, I think I'm going to get an early night now” She said, opening the door.

“Hey” Echo gripped her shoulders lightly, “We can talk about it if you want?”

“Another time maybe” She smiled up at him, “Goodnight Echo”

Echo sighed with a worried smile, “Goodnight M'aira”

Kan's smile grew at the use of the nickname as she stepped away from Echo, hoping its return was permanent.

technical devotion, part fifteen: promises made

a/n: I think I'm gonna start aiming to get a chapter of this out every thursday roughly. I have everything planned out apart from how it's gonna end lmao, but rest assured, it shall be happy. I'm looking forward to you guys seeing what's in store! also, I did not realise how slow burn this would be lol, we're still a way off from first kiss territory, buuuuut... this chapter is one I've been waiting to write since the beginning ! hope you enjoy it (sorry for the long a/n)

warnings: injury & pain (not in any great detail) insecure echo :/

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In the weeks following Kan and Echo rekindling their friendship, Kan slowly began to get a grasp on her new role in the ranks, which was mainly because Echo was now there to support her. He was there to remind her not to let her worries overtake her, and a hand on her arm, or an encouraging smile, usually did the trick. Echo's presence calmed her in an instant, and the task of leading didn't seem as daunting with him around. Not that it was always so simple.

Kan stepped out of the command room, rubbing a hand over her face and sighing deeply. Echo was quick to notice as he exited behind her.

“Have you been sleeping?” He asked, stopping her in the corridor.

“I've been sleeping fine yeah, its just… My mind. My mind is tired” She admitted.

“What's wrong?” Echo frowned.

Kan exhaled a long breath, “I really don't know if I'm meant to lead people. It's really outside of my comfort zone even now, and it's just got my brain going into overdrive. I can't stop thinking about… What if something really bad happened under my watch? Or because of a decision I made? I don't think I could cope Echo”

Echo's expression softened the more Kan spoke, a silent admiration of her showing on his features. He placed his hands on her shoulders, something he noted that helped to ground her and gain her focus entirely.

“M'aira, you're doing a great job, and you'll continue to. Rex wouldn't choose you for this if he didn't think you could do it or handle it, and if it means anything to you, I believe in you too”

Kan let a shy smile lift the edges of her lips, “Thanks, it means a lot yeah”

Echo returned her smile, “Now, come with me, I have a small surprise for you”

“You do?” Kan looked up at him with slightly widened eyes.

“It's nothing special” He said as he took his hands away from her shoulders and began walking towards her office, “I just figured that since you seem to insist on sleeping in your office every night…”

Echo opened the door, showing his handiwork to Kan.

“…That having your bunk in here might be the way to go. That way I can stop worrying about you as well”

Kan grinned up at the clone, wrapping her arms around his waist and giving him a quick tight squeeze, “Thank you Echo, you're too kind to me”

Echo shook his head with a smile, resisting the urge to pull Kan back towards him, “Not really, if I was kind I would have tidied up in here too”

Kan looked around her office, still messy as ever. It seemed that Echo had just pushed the worst of the mess aside to make room for the bed.

“It's fine, I don't mind it like this anyway, the mess doesn't really bother me” She shrugged.

Echo huffed a small laugh, “I don't think I could cope if my office was this messy”

Kan hummed thoughtfully, her eyes darting across the mess.

“When do you leave for your mission?” Kan asked, looking back up into his honey eyes.

“We leave early tomorrow morning” Echo gave a sad smile.

“So I won't see you before you go?” Kan questioned, and Echo shook his head. Kan chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, “I wish I was going with you”

Echo could feel the words tugging at his heart, “I don't”

Kan gave him a stern look, her eyebrows drawn together.

He chuckled, “You can't get hurt if you don't go at all”

“You think I can't handle myself?” Kan asked, minorly offended but mostly confused.

“Oh I know you can, I‘m just happier knowing you're safe” Echo confessed, and he could feel his cheeks heating at the slightly vulnerable admission.

Kan just huffed, “Well it doesn't get much more safe than sitting around in the base all day”

“You'll get your chance to go into the field again, don't worry” He assured, a hand on her shoulder.

Kan smiled. Her eyes didn't meet his for a few seconds, but when they did he could tell there was a certain sadness laced within the gentle expression.

“Be safe, yeah?” She urged quietly.

Echo smiled softly, the edges of his eyes crinkling, “I will”

Without warning and much thought of her own, Kan wrapped her arms around Echo again, more tenderly this time. Echo could feel his heart beating out of his chest as he gently wrapped her in his own arms, resting his cheek on the top of her head.

In the past weeks, Kan had become more physically comfortable around Echo, and though he enjoyed it thoroughly, it was still always a little startling. Especially with a touch so gentle and tender as the hug she was currently giving him, it was hard to not be overwhelmed.

“Don't do anything stupid. Don't get yourself hurt” Kan spoke into his chest, and he was certain she could hear how furiously his heart was beating.

“I won't” He replied, hugging her tighter into his body to reassure her, “I promise”

Kan nodded along, listening intently as Rex detailed the upcoming mission. She was a little disappointed to not seem to be going on this mission, as they were going to be infiltrating the base that she had discovered through listening in on the Empire's long range comms. It was a dangerous job, they knew nothing about what this prison would be like once they were in, but that was the reason they were set on going. There were clones being imprisoned there, and they wanted to know why.

“Now, while all that is going on, me and Kan will be on a separate directive, looking to garner any information about this prison” Rex continued, and Kan's ears perked up, her posture straightening at the mention of her.

Rex hadn't discussed this with her before, but she was more than happy to do it, particularly with him.

“That's the plan as of now, but we'll have to wait until more men are back here to enact it” Rex moved away from the central holotable and crossed his arms, “I suggest getting some good rest tonight, they could be back at any time and I want to get this done as soon as possible”

Rex dismissed the clones, and Kan was immediately at his side.

“Rex, about the-”

“Sorry to spring that on you, I was hoping to speak with you earlier but your door was locked” Rex explained.

“Ah right, yeah, I was… tidying”

“Tidying?” Rex raised an eyebrow, a small smirk quirking his lips.

“Yeah, anyway, I wanted to ask you-”

Kan didn't get the chance to finish her question as the door to the command centre zipped open and her focus was drawn towards it. She did a double take, the sight she took in not registering in her mind at first.

It was Echo. He was back from his mission, but something was wrong. His form was alarmingly straight and rigid, his forearm resting against the door frame and holding him up. Each small movement sent a twitch to his face, his teeth clenched and eyes squeezed shut, nostrils flared.

Kan's heart leapt to her throat, and she rushed over to him.

“What happened?” She spoke hurriedly, paying no mind to the other clones around them who watched on.

Echo exhaled shakily, “Got… shot, in the back”

Kan tried so desperately to remain calm despite the sound of her heart pounding in her ears. She turned to look at Rex over her shoulder, hoping for some kind of support.

“We haven’t got a proper medic” He said, clearly shaken by his brother's condition.

That snapped Kan into gear, “I've got medical training, I've got it”

Kan took Echo's arm and threw it over her shoulder, pulling a pained groan from him. She quickly led him to her office, which was only just down the hall, and smacked the door panel in a frantic hurry. She set him down on the bed gently and instantly went about rooting around in the draws of her desk looking for her medkit. When she had found it, she looked up at Echo, who was trying to take off his armour, and failing as his wound cried out in pain.

“Stop, let me do it” Kan spoke instantly, standing in front of him and shooing his hands away.

Her fingers got working on the clasps, starting with his arms and working her way up, exactly as Echo did it.

“How do you know how to do this?” He asked, fighting through his pain.

“I've watched you do it enough times” Kan replied, a small shrug in her shoulders as she focused. Echo would've smirked but his chest plate dug into his wound as she took it off. “Sorry” She whispered.

“S'fine” Echo managed to hiss out as Kan climbed over the bed to sit behind him cross-legged. She tried to survey the damage, to see how bad it really was, but to no avail.

“Could you take this off?” Kan asked, her fingers playing with the hem of his blacks.

If it was possible, Echo’s body seized up even more. He nervously fidgeted his own fingers along the hem, letting out an exasperated huff. His blaster wound was sending small shocks through his body with every movement, but he was single-mindedly focused on not letting Kan take off his top.

Kan noted his discomfort immediately, and let out a sigh.

“Echo” She spoke so gently from behind him, resting a hand on his shoulder, “It's okay, please let me help you”

Echo relented with a slump of his shoulders, “Okay”

Kan helped to peel off the tight base layer, several pained noises escaping the man she was helping. As she saw the wound, she couldn't help but suck a sharp breath between her teeth. Three blaster bolts scorched into his lower back, creating a cluster of open wounds.

Echo assumed her reaction was to seeing the cybernetic attachments he had in his back. His breath was shaky as he tried to calm himself, but it only became more unstable as Kan traced around the outside of his wound.

“I told you to be safe Echo” She whispered, “You promised not to get hurt”

She sounded so solemn, and Echo couldn't find it in himself to say anything. Thankfully, she then got to work on the wound, but it wasn't without discomfort. She first administered a pain relief injection, and his breath caught in his throat as she cupped the side of his neck to do so. She warned him every time she was going to touch him, the antiseptic wipe against his wound making him flinch and grunt more than he wished, stinging even with the pain relief. She placed a bacta patch over the area when she had cleaned it appropriately, and it stung for just a second before the bacta started working it's magic.

“Does that feel better?” She asked quietly, and Echo just nodded

Kan ran her fingers along the edge of the metal apparatus that climbed up his back, causing Echo to shudder under her touch. The feeling of it was so intimate, yet so tainted by sadness and clouded by self-concious thoughts that Echo couldn't focus on the warmth of Kan's fingers against his bare back.

“You're lucky, they almost hit your spine” She spoke, sounding resoundingly serious.

Echo could only hang his head. He felt so ashamed. He had worked hard to get past this mindset, but with the woman he desired like no other sitting behind him and inspecting the damage done to his body, he couldn't help it.

Kan could understand a little of what Echo was thinking, she just hoped she was wrong. She slid from behind him and knelt in front of him on the floor, but he wouldn't look at her.

“Echo” She said as gently as she could, placing a hand on his knee, “I'm glad you're okay”

Echo looked up to her, and the emotions she saw swimming in his eyes were almost enough to bring her to tears.

“What can I say to make you feel better?” She asked in a whisper, for fear that speaking louder would cause him to break.

“There's nothing to say” He said firmly, looking down to his lap.

Kan couldn't help but reach out. She placed a hand on his face, lightly rubbing her thumb along his cheekbone.

“Please talk to me” She pleaded.

After a moment of painful silence, Echo sighed, “I don't show people my cybernetics for a reason”

“Echo it's okay-”

“But it's not” He frowned, his eyes snapping to Kan’s once more. “It's not okay. The attachments, they- they're not exactly desirable, and no one wants someone with all… this. I-” He puffed out a sad breath, the next admission feeling daunting, “It makes me feel like I'm half a man”

Kan's heart broke.

“That's not true” She said sternly, both hands now on his cheeks, forcing him to pay attention to her words, “You're every bit of a man as any other, and even more than that, you're a good man Echo. Anyone would be lucky to have you”

“Anyone?” Echo asked, a hopeful look in his eyes.

Kan wasn't really sure what he was asking. Was he asking because he just wanted confirmation that she was telling the truth? Or was it something more? She weighed her options of what to say, biting into her bottom lip with her eyebrows pinched. She couldn't just admit to her affections for him right now if that wasn't what he was after.

Instead, she took her hands away from his face, sitting back of her heels with a shy look on her face, “Yes, anyone”

Kan stood up and grabbed the medkit, taking it back over to the desk and placing it in the draw.

“You stay here tonight, I'll take your bunk” She said, turning around to meet Echo's intense gaze once more.

“No, I'm fine, I'll-” He was interrupted by his own sharp intake of breath as he tried to stand.

Kan smiled at him knowingly and walked over, placing her hands on his shoulder to keep him rooted to the bed.

“Please, stay here” She insisted.

She found herself lost in Echo's eyes. So many emotions were flitting through them and she couldn't keep track. She absent-mindedly began rubbing her thumb along his bare collarbone, before she realised what she was doing and pulled away.

“I'll see you tomorrow” She nodded to him, leaving quickly and shutting the door behind her.

Echo let out a breath that he didn't realise he was holding and laid back on the bed. His mind was full to the brim with every thought he’d had about Kan since meeting her.

Her distinct scent enveloped him as he crawled into her bunk. He inhaled deeply, letting it take him over and overpower him, washing away his troubled thoughts, and eventually letting it lull him into a peaceful sleep.

technical devotion, part sixteen: old friends

a/n: this one's a bit longer since I had a good few things to fit in. also fair warning, the next few parts will have some serious angst and sad echo & kas

warnings: none :)

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Echo woke up to the sight of Kan sat at her desk, or more accurately, crouched. Her feet were on the seat of the chair, and she was curled up, her knees against her chest as she looked over something on her computer, her glasses hanging onto the tip of her nose.

She noticed him stir and looked over with a shy smile, “Morning”

“Morning” He replied, and she gulped at the gravelly sound of his voice.

“What time is it?”

“Around 0830, I grabbed you some caf” Kan nodded to the cup next to her on the desk.

Echo sat up with a small groan and suddenly felt very insecure about not wearing a shirt around Kan, who on the other hand was extremely flushed at seeing his exposed body.

“Here” She handed him the cup of caf, “It might be a little cold by now, but it's better than nothing, maybe”

“Thank you” He smiled gratefully and took a sip. “I didn't fully realise yesterday but…” He looked around the room, “It's really tidy in here”

“Well you said you prefer things to be organised” Kan shrugged, her eyes unmoving from the holoscreen of her computer, and his eyes snapped back to her.

“I didn't mean that you should tidy your space”

“Well, I wanted you to feel comfortable in here” Kan said simply.

Echo’s heart clenched more with every word she spoke, feeling so moved by her actions once again.

“That's very kind M'aira, but I already did”

Kan looked to him upon hearing the sincerity in his voice, her eyes trailing down his exposed chest and gulping again, “It was long overdue a clean anyway”

Echo just watched as her eyes flicked over the holoscreen. She seemed more on edge than she had been when he woke up, and he leaned forwards, “M'aira, is everything okay?”

Kan looked to him and her eyes dragged up and down his body again without her permission. This time Echo noticed.

“Yeah I'm fine” She looked back to the holoscreen.

“Sorry, am I making you uncomfortable?” Echo asked, his cheeks heating up with slight embarrassment as he grabbed his shirt from the newly cleaned floor.

“Um” Kan looked back at him again. She didn’t want him to think it was because of his cybernetic attachments, but she was floundering for something to say. “Not uncomfortable, just… distracted maybe” Her cheeks flushed deeply as she turned away again, and she missed the surprised look on Echo's face.

He tilted his head to the side, staring at the Mirialan woman, “Distracted?”

“Mhm” She said more squeakily than she had meant to, not daring to look at him.

A small smirk graced Echo's features as he pulled on his blacks and came to stand by her, leaning on the back of her chair, “What are you up to?”

“Trying to recover the files from this datacard” She pointed to the card that was stuck into her computer, the one he had retrieved yesterday and dropped on the floor of the command room.

He nodded, “And how long have you been… sitting like this?”

“All morning, why?”

Echo winced, “That's gotta be killing your back”

“It's fine” She rolled her shoulders backwards and he heard a few cracks.

“If you insist, sounds like you could use a massage though”

Kan chuckled, “Oh yeah? And who around here is gonna be the one to do it? You?” She smirked up at him, but her face fell instantly, and she turned back, “Don't answer that”

Echo's face contorted into one of equal confusion and amusement. He came to stand next to her and leaned his cybernetic hand on her desk, getting in her field of view, “What's got into you today?”

“I don't know what you're talking about” She replied quickly

“Hm” Echo hummed, a smirk stretching across his face

“How's your wound?” Kan asked, trying to change the subject.

Echo stood up straight again, “A little sore”

“Turn around” She demanded, her eyes still on the screen. Echo did as she said, and could feel her lift up his blacks, and peel back the bacta patch.

“Looks like it's healing well, stay still” Kan removed the patch and replaced it with fresh one. “There” She said and put the medkit away.

Echo turned back to her, but she was already looking at the screen again.

“M'aira” He spoke softly, making her look up to him. Using the nickname that only he had for her made her suddenly feel so oddly shy, “Thank you for letting me stay here”

“Anytime” She smiled, “Uh, I meant-”

“I know what you meant” He smiled back, “I'll see you around”

Echo brought his hand to her face and gently stoked her cheek with the back of his knuckles, before moving towards the door without another word.

“Bye” Kan said softly as he left, tracing her cheek where his touch still burned into her skin.

At lunch time, Kan was sat with Teddy, Howzer and Oscar, but she was once again gazing over at Echo.

She was a little perplexed by his simple action from earlier, but she was beginning to play with the idea that it wasn't entirely outside the realm of possibility that Echo might feel similar affections to her, for her. When she really thought about it, it didn't seem crazy, but the idea of facing up to it and telling him how she felt certainly did.

Howzer watched Kan for a moment, practically drooling over someone across the room, “Got your eye on someone there K?”

“What? No” Kan looked down, taking a forkful of food and almost choking on it with how quick she swallowed it.

“Come on, you're always looking over there, which one of them is it?” Howzer pressed, leaning in with a taunting smirk.

“You're making stuff up” Kan shook her head disapproving.

“I bet it's Rex” Oscar grinned.

“It's not Rex” Kan screwed up her face at the accusation.

“No I reckon it's Gregor” Howzer smirked.

“You guys clearly don't pay attention” Teddy shook his head at his brothers. Naturally, having talked to Kan about it, he already knew which one of them it was, but he wasn't above teasing her about it. “Echo wasn't in his bunk last night, but do you know who was?” He looked to Kan and she blushed deeply, her head tilting away from the clones.

“Oh my god, you're with Echo?” Oscar gasped, a little too loudly for Kan’s taste. She leaped forwards to try and stop him but she was far too late.

“I'm not with him” She whispered aggressively.

“But you like him, don't you?” Howzer smirked and Kan’s stern demeanour faltered a little.

“Maybe a bit, so what?”

“So…” Howzer drew out the word with an eye roll, “Why don't you make a move?”

“What? No! I don't even know if he likes me that way” Kan sat back, frowning.

“Be serious” Teddy deadpanned.

“Besides, this isn't exactly the place for it, we've all got a job to do here and I'm not compromising that for anyone” Kan reasoned, just saying anything to get them off her back, but the sentiment surprisingly rang true when she thought more about it.

“Yeah yeah, that's as good an excuse as any, but I think we all deserve a little happiness too” Howzer said more seriously.

“Whatever” Kan mumbled, not particularly wanting to continue the conversation.

“Ugh, I can't believe you're cheating on me” Oscar huffed with a pout.

“Please, I would never be yours in a million years” Kan rolled her eyes affectionately, the running joke only wearing her down a little. The others snickered, Howzer nudging his brother a little.

“That's just unnecessary” Oscar grumbled, playing with his food.

Kan sat on the edge of the landing platform outside of the base, taking in the last of the next evening's sun. The gentle breeze swayed her hair, making it tickle at her face.

“Mind if I join you?” A cheery voice called out to her, and she looked around to see Gregor striding over.

“Sure” She replied.

Gregor took his seat beside her and smiled, “You ready for this upcoming mission?”

“Yeah I can't wait” Kan breathed out, a grin taking over her face.

Gregor returned the expression, “Always so eager huh?”

Kan shrugged, “I like being out in the field, makes me feel useful”

“Yeah I get that” Gregor replied, “Echo's enroute with the clone by the way, he commed me a little bit ago, should be here any moment”

As if on cue, a ship descended past the clouds and made its way towards the landing platform where Kan and Gregor sat. They tracked it with their eyes, standing up when it landed.

Kan had tried to get Echo to stay, to let his wound heal, but it was difficult to win against the fierce loyalty he had to his brothers. She was glad to see him again now, of course, but the surprise that awaited her when the ship's door opened far exceeded her expectations. The unmistakable webbed scar that earned the man his name made recognition wash over her immediately.

Kan's body froze. Then, not a moment later, she was running. She ran towards the man she'd once proudly called her brother, her ori'vod. His eyes locked with hers and instantly went wide, almost convinced he was hallucinating. Kan stopped just in front of him, her sudden hesitancy obvious on her features.

“Don't worry” Spider tapped the side of his head where a thin scar could be seen through his closely cropped hair, “I'm not going to hurt you”

Kan felt completely overwhelmed by her emotions, and jumped at the clone, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck. Spider held her close, his strong grip keeping her off of the ground as he spun her around. He laughed deeply as he placed her down, and the familiar sound made her chest fill with warmth.

“I missed you vod'ika” He grinned, unable to hide his glee at seeing her once more.

“I missed you too” She smiled, looking over his face and taking in the ways he had changed.

The lines on his face were more defined than she remembered, and his eyes held a certain exhausted quality that told her he had not had an easy go of it, whatever he had been up to since she saw him last.

Spider’s grin faded, “I'm so sorry for everything, for what happened the last time I saw you”

“It's okay, I know it wasn't your fault” Kan sighed.

“I know but… I remember it all. I remember your face when we turned on you, when I… I don't think I'll ever forget”

Kan put her hand on his face, over his scar, “It's okay Spider, I forgive you”

The clone leaned into her touch, a contented sigh escaping him, “It's really good to see you Kan, I'm glad you're okay”

“Likewise” She smiled, then dropped her hand from his face. “Come” She ushered him over to meet Gregor, who had since been joined by Rex.

“You guys know each other?” Rex asked.

“Yeah, my vod'ika here was the best engineer in the 41st” Spider ruffled her hair.

“The only engineer in the 41st” Kan mumbled with a smirk, fixing her hair.

“Kan, you served in the GAR?” Gregor asked, eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Uh- yeah, sort of” She said sheepishly.

“That makes so much sense” Rex said thoughtfully, thinking about the way she went on in the command centre, “Why didn't you say anything?”

“Uh-” She looked to Echo who had joined the group silently, then to Spider, who's expression told her he knew exactly why, “Just not always something I want to remember, maybe”

“Right” Rex nodded, understanding all too well, “Well anyway, it's Spider right?”

As the other three clones found themselves in conversation, Kan looked to Echo again. He was grinding his jaw slightly, looking to the floor and not partaking in the conversation at all. She tried to catch his eye, but he was seemingly avoiding eye contact altogether, so instead she reached out. He was only stood next to her, so she lightly brushed his pinky finger with hers.

His head snapped up, eyes locking with hers, slightly widening when she locked her finger around his.

“Are you okay?” She asked in a whisper, and he just nodded, giving her a tight smile and looking away again, taking his hand away from hers and crossing his arms.

Kan continued to watch him, a frown creasing her brow. She wondered if something had happened on his trip, and broadly she just wondered why he was acting like this.

Echo knew he was being childish, acting up because he got his feelings hurt, but it was hard to stop himself. Seeing Kan so gleefully bound into Spiders arms had set his teeth on edge, and it didn't take a genius to guess why. He couldn't stop the feeling of jealousy that arose in his gut and spread throughout him like a wildfire.

It made sense, she hadn't seen Spider in a long time, but the idea of there now being someone here at the base that she was closer with than him, made him nervous. He had no right to be angry with her at all, he hadn't expressed his feelings for her so explicitly, though he'd think her a fool for not realising, everyone else had. For now, he'd rather be avoidant of the issue than talk about it, especially right now in front of everyone.

“This is your office?” Spider asked sceptically as Kan showed him inside.

“Yeah…?” Kan replied.

“Why's it so tidy in here? I've never known you be so tidy”

Kan chuckled nervously, “Heh, you know, just felt like cleaning”

Spider narrowed his eyes at her, “Hm, I don't buy it”

Kan rolled her eyes, taking a seat at her desk while Spider took the bunk. They spent the evening catching up, talking about their experiences in the war and beyond. Spider had defected from the Empire almost immediately after order 66, which had earned him a one way ticket straight to prison, where he had remained until Rex's people had managed to get him out. Kan told him of how she had been working with Senator Organa until she'd heard of the base here, and told him of the missions she had done since. Spider couldn't help but notice how often Echo's name came up.

“Ah, okay” Spider nodded slowly, a wide grin stretching across his face, “I get it”

“Get what?” Kan asked, her head cocked in confusion.

“You and this Echo guy” He said, an eyebrow raising.

“What about us?” Kan kept her voice flat, but her blushing cheeks betrayed her.

“Oh come on, there's obviously something going on”

“There isn't”

“Right, but I know you wish there was” He replied in a teasing voice.

“I'm not talking to you about this” Kan rolled her eyes affectionately, standing up and moving towards the door.

“I'll get it out of you one of these days” He grinned, poking her in the abdomen as she opened the door.

Stood just outside as the door zipped open, was Echo himself, his hand raised in a fist as if he was about to knock.

“Ah, speak of the devil” Spider grinned, earning an unimpressed look and sharp elbow to the ribs from Kan.

Echo looked minorly alarmed, but chose just to ignore it, “Sorry, I didn't realise you had compa-”

“Spider was just leaving” Kan interrupted him, hoping to get him to stay before he slunk off again.

Spider looked between Kan and Echo with a smirk, “I'll leave you guys to it then”

Kan rolled her eyes at the clone who seemed intent on embarrassing her, then turned to Echo with an adoring smile, “Do you want to come in?”

“If that's alright” He said slightly hesitantly.

“Of course it is” Kan stepped out of the way and he entered, sitting on the bed where Spider had been. He noted the warmth beneath him as he sat and really hoped it was just from one person having been in the spot. He immediately banished that thought from his head, but Kan was intrigued and concerned by his silence.

“Did you have something to say or…?”

“No I just came to see you” He spoke, and the atmosphere of the room was suddenly overwhelmingly awkward. Echo couldn't think of what to say. Conversation usually flowed naturally between the two of them, and if it didn't then the silences certainly weren't as awkward as this.

“Is everything okay?” Kan asked quietly, “You seemed a bit out of it when you got back”

“Yeah I'm fine” He said dismissively, and visibly cringed when it became even more awkward. “So… Spider was a good friend of yours?” He tried making conversation but he just felt that he sounded ridiculous.

“Uh, yeah. He was a Lieutenant in the 41st, I was closer to him than anyone else probably. I was only young when I joined, so he kinda looked after me a bit”

“Right” Echo nodded and looked down to his lap. He didn’t want to feel jealous, and he felt ridiculous for letting those kind of thoughts fester in his mind. He certainly wasn't going to say anything about it, and luckily Kan changed the subject.

“How's your blaster wound?” She sat beside him on the bed.

“Fine”

“Can I take a look?”

Echo looked up at her beside him. He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately conceded in a matter of seconds, “Sure”

Kan carefully lifted up his top and peeled back the bandage just a bit to get a look at it. Echo couldn't help but shiver at the gentle touches of her soft hands on his back.

“It's healing up nicely” She confirmed as she put the bandage back in its place and pulled down his top.

“Thanks to you” Echo said pointedly.

“I didn't do much” Kan chuckled, looking up into his eyes as he turned to face her. There was an undeniable sadness, almost a longing look in them.

“Echo what's the matter?” She whispered, her brows pinched in concern.

“It's nothing, don't worry about it” He gave her an ingenuine tight smile for the second time today, and it only made her frown.

“Echo, please,” She urged, her grip on his arm tightening just a bit.

“I'm okay, just tired” He shrugged, looking away so he wouldn't fall for the trap that was Kan’s deep green eyes.

“Do you want to stay here again?”

“No that's okay, you have it” He stood up and Kan’s hand fell from his arm.

Kan bit her lip, her confidence faltering despite her next words “What if I want you to stay here?”

Echo looked down at her but she wasn’t meeting his gaze. She had said it so quietly that he wasn’t entirely sure he had heard her correctly, “What was that?”

“Uh- You dont have to, it's okay, just-” She looked up at him finally and his expression almost made her melt. He was looking at her so adoringly, his eyes crinkling with a light smile.

“I can stay if you want me to”

Kan began rambling, “If you want, just because of your wounds and because you're tired and-”

“You don't need to explain M'aira, I'd like to stay” He said gently, taking a step towards her.

Kan smiled shyly, “Okay, I've got a few things to go over in command but I'll be back soon” She spoke, standing up. She found herself almost chest to chest with her favourite clone, and it was almost too much to handle.

“Alright, I'll see you in a bit then” Echo spoke quietly, biting back the grin that threatened to take over his face.

Kan nodded, letting her eyes drift to his lips for just a second before she immediately left the room.

Echo sighed as he watched her go. Sometimes it really felt like something was happening between them, but then he'd be reminded of how kind she was with everyone, how affectionate, and that put it in perspective.

He knew they had a bond, it was unquestionable at this point. They understood each other in a way that didn't entirely make sense to him, or at least, he couldn't figure out why it was Kan specifically that made him feel like this. It was just inherent in some way. He only hoped that he was that person for Kan.

When Kan returned almost two hours later, the lights were out and Echo was tucked up against the wall in her bunk, seemingly asleep, and shirtless. The covers pooled at his waist, exposing his toned back for her to see in all its glory. She could easily admit it was a sight she wouldn't mind seeing every night.

She quietly got changed into her sleep clothes, an oversized t-shirt and loose trousers, hoping not to wake him in the process. She slowly slid into the bed behind him, and he shifted, a small mumbled noise signifying him having woken up.

“You've been gone a long time” He said sleepily, making Kan smile at the frankly adorable sound of it.

“I had to show Spider to the barracks, we just chatted for a little while”

Echo came out with what sounded like an unsatisfied grunt, and Kan frowned slightly as she settled beside him.

“What is it?”

“Do you like him?” Echo mumbled, and Kan couldn't help but laugh.

“I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer” She shook her head slightly.

“Does that mean yes?”

“Echo” She said amusedly, placing a hand on his bare back and rubbing her thumb over his skin gently, “You do realise that you're the one sleeping in my bed tonight, right?”

She felt a small chuckle rumble through him, “Yes, I realise”

Kan chuckled as well, and then her mind brought forth how he had acted when him and Spider had arrived at the base, “Is that what you were upset about earlier?”

Echo hesitated for a moment, “Maybe”

Kan laughed heartily, and slid her hand around his abdomen and pulled herself into his back, slotting their bodies together, “You're ridiculous”

Echo placed his hand over Kan’s and intertwined his fingers with hers. He relished in the warmth of her embrace, and everything just felt right in the galaxy in that moment. There was no Empire, no need for rebellion, there was just him and Kan, pressed against each other and fitting together as if this was why they were made.

There was so much unsaid between them, and both of them knew it, but for right now, they'd just enjoy the moment. They didn't know what was to come, and unbeknownst to them, this was going to be as good as it got for a long time.

technical devotion, part seventeen: taken

a/n: it's echo day!!! that's why i'm posting this two days late.... definitely not because this chapter put me in a massive rut..... aha, nothing like that.

warnings: canon typical violence, someone held at gun(blaster)point, some unwarranted touching, angry clone nose scrunch hehe

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Echo awoke to an empty bed, in an empty room. The silence was stifling, and he let out a long breath to break the uncomfortable feeling.

In the two times he'd stayed with Kan, she had not remained in the bed when he had woken up, just leaving the bed lingering with her scent. He would give anything to wake up to the sight of her, the feel of her, alongside that divine scent, just once. He was sure that he could die a happy man then.

He eventually hauled himself from the bed, noting how little discomfort he got from the injury he had sustained to his back, and also how rested he felt. He quickly pulled on his clothes and exited the room, checking to make sure no one saw him leaving.

The idea of people knowing that he spent the night with Kan was both electrifying and terrifying. In some ways, he'd like for people to know that she was his, in some sense. Then again, she wasn't his, they were just friends. Good friends, best friends perhaps. Echo couldn't stop the nagging voice in the back of his head that told him that even best friends don't cuddle in the middle of the night, that they don't intertwine their bodies as if trying to mould them into one.

He also wouldn't presume that Kan would want anyone knowing he stayed with her, in fact, he assumed the opposite. He wouldn't embarrass her in such a way. So, he was careful in making sure nobody saw him leave, tiptoeing away quickly. He made his way down the hall and opened the door to the command room, finding Rex and Kan bent over the central holotable in deep discussion. They looked up as he entered, and Kan offered him a small smile.

“Echo, perfect timing” Rex said, standing up straight, “I need to talk to you about this mission”

“What about it?”

“I'm going to need you to lead the main objective” Rex informed him.

Echo drew his eyebrows together, “Why not you?”

“I'll be Kan's backup”

Echo looked between the two of them for a moment, his lips pressed in a hard line as he struggled to control his thoughts.

“Rex can I speak with you outside?”

Kan frowned deeply, and watched as the pair of them left, shutting the door behind them. What couldn't Echo say to her?

“Rex, you would lead better, send me as Kan's backup instead”

Rex sighed aggressively, suppressing an eye roll. He knew exactly where this comment was coming from. “Echo I need you to be objective about this. Kan is perfectly able of handling herself and you're one of the most capable soldiers here. She will be fine, I will be with her and I need you to lead this squad”

Echo ground his jaw with indignation. He knew Rex was right, but he felt protective over Kan, and he just wanted to know that she was safe at all times.

“Are you sure that-”

“Echo” Rex said firmly, giving him a knowing look, “I understand, okay? I know you want to keep her safe, but she signed up for this rebellion and she knows as well as you and I that there are certain risks involved”

“But-”

“She wants to do this Echo” Rex cut him off, “You know what she's like, she wants to help and we need her on this mission. I'm sorry, but this is final”

Echo sighed, “Fine”

Rex walked back into the command room, and Echo looked up and met Kan’s eyes from the doorway. She looked confused, maybe even a little hurt, and he felt awful for being the reason why. He offered her a small smile as he joined them in the room, but it clearly did little to ease her worries. As he came to rest beside her, and they continued finalising the mission plan, he hooked his pinky finger with hers, the silent reassurance that everything was fine.

Kan relaxed. She could ask him about it later.

Kan stepped off of the ship, taking in her surroundings. It was a forest of some sort, large trees shrouding her and the clones in darkness, not that there was much light left to begin with. It was a little wet underfoot, but there were also dry leaves scattered about as if they had just fallen from the trees, clueing her in to the season the planet was in. Echo was quick to be at her side, his eyes scanning around what could be seen in the darkness for any immediate threats.

“This way” Rex gestured, leading the group.

The clones all followed after him silently, leaves crunching beneath their feet. Kan noticed Echo sticking close to her side and bit the inside her of her cheek, confused thoughts swirling inside her head. She watched the way he would look at her, almost as of to make sure she was still there, and then survey the environment, looking ahead of them and to their feet.

“Echo, I can handle myself, you don't need to look out for me” Kan said, hoping her assessment of the situation was correct.

Echo sighed, looking to his own feet, “I know, I'm sorry”

“It's okay” Kan said quietly, smiling up at him and gripping his hand for just a second.

He gave her a small sheepish smile in return as his heart lurched at the feeling of her hand finding his in the darkness, and they continued on their journey. Kan then cleared her throat.

“Uh, what were you talking to Rex about yesterday?” She asked, her voice a little hesitant, as if holding back how much she really cared to know.

Echo gave her a puzzled look, “When?”

“When you came into the command room, you didn’t want to say something in front of me” Kan replied, then quickly turned the words over again in her head, “I mean- sorry, if you don’t want to share with me that’s okay, of course”

“It’s not that” Echo sighed, “I was just asking if I could go with you instead of Rex”

“Oh” Kan said quietly, “Why?”

Echo chuckled a little. To him, and everyone around him, his monstrous crush on Kan was so painfully obvious that it was just getting a little ridiculous that she hadn’t noticed, or at least said anything. He reckoned that she in fact hadn’t noticed, or perhaps she would not afford him the small touches that she did; the gentle grip of his hand, the intertwining of their pinkies when one of them was nervous, the short squeezing hugs when she was excited. And no less, letting him stay with her in her bunk. He figured that Kan had absolutely no clue. Somehow that all made sense to him.

“I just want to keep you safe M’aira” He said lowly, casting a glance her way.

Kan’s heart skipped a beat.

“Oh, thank you” She spoke unsurely, not entirely certain of how to respond.

Echo huffed a small laugh, “You’re welcome, I guess”

Kan couldn’t stop the broad grin that spread across her face. It was getting harder to act like Echo didn’t affect her at all. Everything he said and did just made her so giddy, and she had to admit that she truly enjoyed it. It was fun to exist in this space, where she felt like she was on the cusp of admitting her feelings for him, with some kind of palpable but pleasant tension building. It was equally terrifying and electrifying.

It was almost seven klicks of walking before they reached the perimeter of the Imperial prison that was buried within the valley below. Rex brought them to a stop, and everyone gathered around him.

“Alright, I don't need to tell you all how dangerous this mission is” Rex began, “You understand perfectly well. It is unlikely that there won't he any push back from Imperial forces, so be careful, and keep them occupied while Kan and I do our part. We'll be going in and out this way, and you're that way. Good luck, radio silence from this point on”

As Kan turned away, Echo grabbed her arm instinctively, making her frown as she looked back at him.

“Be safe, M'aira” He urged quietly, his grip on her arm tightening just a little to drive his point home.

Kan's gaze softened, and she took a step towards him, a smile gracing her features as she looked up into his worry-filled eyes.

“You too, Echo” She said softly.

Echo opened his mouth to say something more, but nothing came out. Instead, he dropped his helmet to the ground and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her into a tight hug.

Kan was surprised, to say the least. She had hugged Echo a number of times, but he had never been the one to initiate it before. She snaked her hands around his waist and held him equally as tight, as he buried his face in her shoulder.

“I mean it, be careful” He reiterated in a murmur.

“I will. Don't get shot again alright?” Kan replied.

Echo chuckled a little bit, “I won't promise this time, but I'll try not to”

Kan tutted, “I guess that's the most I can ask for”

Echo lifted his head from her shoulder a little, his mouth tilting towards her ear so only she could hear, “You could ask for anything and I'd give it to you M'aira, just know that”

He then pressed a gentle kiss to her temple and stepped back, giving her a quick smile before grabbing his helmet from the ground and walking away.

Kan was positively dumbfounded. Her mouth hung open as she watched Echo join his squad. Her heart swelled with affection and a desperate longing that blinded her for a moment. The other clones hadn't been watching the exchange, but Rex on the other hand, was smirking when Kan turned towards him.

“Shut up” She rolled her eyes.

“I didn’t say anything” He held his hands up in surrender.

Kan grumbled a few unintelligible words as they made their way towards the way in they would be taking, and Rex held his tongue, electing to wait until after the mission was finished to tease her.

Getting in was easy. Even retrieving clones from their cells had very little pushback. But it was the getting them out that was the daunting part.

Echo signalled that it was safe to move, and the group of prisoners followed after him, hugging the walls to stay as hidden as possible. They ran into a some guards along the way to the ship, but a few stun blasts made short work of that problem. Though, Echo began to get nervous as he heard the crackle of someone trying to comm him in his ear.

“Ech- - We’re g- - -eave, don- -eed-”

It was Rex, but with the limited information, Echo couldn’t tell whether or not he was in trouble. He didn’t sound especially distressed, but Echo’s heart leapt to his throat nevertheless.

“Rex? You’re not coming in clear. What’s the matter?”

He didn’t get any sort of reply, not even static, which just worried him even more. Once he had got the clone prisoners settled in the ship, which had been brought to the landing platform on his command, he grabbed Howzer to let his worries be known.

“I think something might have gone wrong on Rex and Kan’s end” He informed him, and Howzer’s eyes widened.

“What kind of something? Why?” He asked hurriedly.

“I don’t know, Rex was trying to contact me and it was breaking up, and now he’s not responding at all”

“Kriff” Howzer ran a hand through his hair, “What should we do?”

Echo looked towards Gregor and realised he had been listening in, “Can you hold the fort here while we go back in?”

“I’m on it” Gregor gave him a small salute and that was all Echo needed to turn on his heel and bound back towards the base.

Echo and Howzer ran through the prison, towards the area that they knew Kan and Rex to be in from the mission briefing. They ran past the unconscious bodies of the guards which they had incapacitated previously, and came upon conscious ones to which they had the same solution. As they got close Echo tried contacting Rex again.

“Rex? Rex, come i-”

“Ah! Perfect, just who I’m looking for” A cold, sneering voice interrupted Echo as he rounded the corner, “And you came to me, how opportune”

Echo whipped out his blaster but the stormtroopers surrounding the Imperial officer did the same. Echo could see that the officer had hold of Rex’s comm, but Rex was nowhere to be seen.

“Echo? Was it?” The Imperial rocked forwards onto the balls of his feet, hands clasped behind his back, “I hope you know I have troops on the way to retrieve my prisoners”

Echo scrunched up his face, refusing to give any of his own commentary on the matter.

“Don’t you care at all? And I thought clones were supposed to be fiercely loyal”

“You don’t know anything about us” Howzer piped up, his nose scrunching in disgust to match Echo’s.

“Do I not?” The man said impassively, his head tilted to the side.

Howzer growled from beside Echo with frustration, “Give us back our brother”

“Hm, perhaps” The officer seemed to be considering it for a moment, his finger tapping at his chin. “Or perhaps not” He shrugged and then called out, “Bring him out”

A pair of stormtroopers dragged in Rex from a side door, hanging limp as they held him under his arms and throwing him onto the ground. He knelt before his brothers, his head hung and wrists bound together. Echo was so sure that Rex would never have the fight beaten out of him, but here he was, beaten and broken, defeated on the floor. Echo could only thank the stars that somehow Kan had avoided this confrontation, and the imperial noticed him let out a small breath.

“Oh, and how could I forget” The officer grinned sadistically, “Bring out the other one too”

To Echo’s horror, a stormtrooper then dragged in Kan, holding her by the hair while her hands were bound in front of her. She was resisting, but had a cloth tied around her mouth, stopping her cries from being coherent. She was thrown onto the floor next to Rex, her knees hitting the ground with a sickening thud.

“Now, troopers, I'll make you a deal” The officer continued, “I'll let you take one of them, a show of good will, and I'll keep the other, if you just tell me which one you want”

Echo couldn't speak, he couldn't breathe. It felt as if the wind had been kicked out of him as he took in the sight of the two people he cared for most, kneeling before him in such a state.

The imperial continued, “Of course, I don’t expect you or any of your pathetic brothers to actually make it off this planet, but all the same, I’ll be kind enough to let you hope”

Echo knew the man was stalling for time, and he knew that he was letting it happen, but he couldn’t find anything to say, even to spew insults at him.

“Come on, or I'll have to choose for you” The imperial officer said with a mock impatience.

Echo looked to Kan, and she shook her head slowly at him. He couldn't in good conscience choose either of them, but the idea of leaving Kan in the hands of these monsters turned his stomach.

“Alright too late” The imperial huffed after a minute, and pushed Rex forwards, “Have him, I'm keeping the girl”

Howzer rushed to receive Rex, taking his arm around his shoulders and bringing him to stand beside Echo, who had since drawn his blaster on the officer once more, his body practically shaking with rage.

“Ah, ah, I don’t think so” The Imperial spoke calmly, a small smirk appearing as the five stormtroopers in the room all turned their blasters to him.

“Let her go” Echo ordered, but the Imperial just laughed.

“Oh I don't think so” He said, tipping Kan’s chin up to look at her face as he stood just behind her, “I couldn't let such a pretty little thing slip from my grasp”

Kan instinctively pulled away but the Imperial grabbed her neck, forcing her to keep still. A small whimper sounded in her throat and Echo's heart lurched at the sound.

“Get your hands off her” Echo seethed, striding forwards.

“Stay put” The Imperial barked, pulling Kan’s head back by her hair and pointing a blaster to her head, “Or she gets it”

Kan was trying to say something from behind her gag, and now that he had drawn closer, echo could see the tears streaming down her face. His heart reached out for her, hoping beyond hope that it could wrap around her and seize her from this despicable man’s grasp.

“What is it sweetie?” The imperial said in an overly-sweetened tone, loosening the cloth a bit to take it out of her mouth.

“Echo, just get out of here. I'll be fine” She breathed out. Her voice sounded strained, her throat raw and aching.

“I'm not leaving you-”

“Echo! Please. I'll be okay, please go” Kan spoke so desperately, but Echo’s desperation to save her was just as strong. He stepped forwards, but the Imperial officer pushed the barrel of the blaster into her temple. Kan squeezed her eyes shut, her head pounding with how tight the Imperial was holding her hair.

“Rex, please get him out of here” She begged.

Rex gave her a reluctant look, but when her eyes opened and focused on him with an unyielding and stern stare, it made him muster up what little strength he could and he grabbed Echo’s arm tightly, pulling him back. Howzer also threw an arm around Echo’s middle and dragged him backwards towards the way out, knowing it wasn’t going to be an easy task.

“No!” Echo was screaming at the top of his lungs, fighting to get away from his brothers, but it was no use. He could only watch in anguish as Kan's defeated form grew further and further from him, out of his grasp and into the Empire's.

Echo continued to protest in desperate cries, not even paying attention to the blaster fire that ripped through the air when they made it to the landing platform. When Gregor’s eyes locked onto his brothers dragging one of their own back to the ship, he threw his blaster to one of the others and sprinted for the controls, closing the hatch once they were aboard and leaving with immediacy.

“No! We have to go back!” Echo argued with Rex, his face stern but his cracking voice betraying his desperation.

“Echo, we will. We’ll get her back, okay?” Rex tried to soothe his worries but it was no use.

“We can’t leave her there! She won't-”

”Echo!” Rex snapped at him, grabbing his arms, “Kan is strong, you know that. She will be fine, and we will go back for her as soon as possible”

Echo’s chest heaved, tired and out of breath from screaming. He wordlessly slumped onto the floor, taking his head in his hands and letting Rex rest a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“You don’t understand, she- she was tortured before, if they hurt her-”

“They’re not going to touch her Echo, we’re going back for her” Gregor crouched by his brother and gripped his forearm tightly in support, “We won’t give them the chance”

Echo wanted to believe him, but the sinking feeling in his stomach told him that it wasn’t going to be that easy.

I think that in honour of Echo day everybody should read my Echo longfic 😁

if they wish, tis but a suggestion

TECHNICAL DEVOTION

Echo x F! Original Character

master list !

description:

Kan is a technical specialist who wishes to do more with her life, so when she hears of a secret clone rebellion that is taking shape, she jumps at the opportunity to help. Her technical skills, along with her positive attitude and acute friendliness, make her fit into the operation immediately, but there's one clone who she can't seem to crack.

warning: this story will have at least one NSFW (18+) part later on. I debated taking it out and having it as a oneshot but what I have planned is more or less integral to the plot so I won't be taking it out. minors begone!

chapters:

part one: a new life | 2.2k words

part two: boundaries | 2.4k words

part three: decryption | 2.3k words

part four: call to action | 2.6k words

part five: objective | 3.3k words

part six: visitors | 3.1k words

part seven: a new post | 2.6k words

part eight: playing the part | 3.7k words

part nine: getting nowhere | 2.7k words

part ten: unveiling truths | 3.2k words

part eleven: co-existing | 2.9k words

part twelve: handy | 2.5k words

part thirteen: leaving | 2.2k words

part fourteen: changes | 2.5k words

part fifteen: promises made | 2.6k words

part sixteen: old friends | 3.9k words

part seventeen: taken | 3.4k words

playlist:

my oc, kandam'aira:

image made on this website :)

oh my GOD this was so good. the anticipation at the beginning and the AFTERCARE like I'm blushing plsss

there's always a certain je ne said quoi (though i think i know what it is ahem scomp) with Echo smut but this absolutely takes the cake. 10/10 no notes

A Little Fun

Pairing: Echo x fem!Reader / Echo x Medic!Reader

Words: 16,139

Tags/Warnings: 18+ only! fluff, smut, pretty much pwp let's be honest, but there is some squad family bonding/good-natured ribbing, reader is a known flirt, reader has a nickname, insecure Echo to confident Echo, return of the king (pleasure dom Echo), he talks you through it, Echo's scomp is a paid actor, brat taming?, oral (f receiving), fingering, unprotected sex, vibrator play, squirting, praise kink, overstimulation, aftercare

Summary: There's something between you and Echo, but despite your best efforts, he's yet to make a move. A night out at 79s changes everything.

A/N: the most self-indulgent thing i’ve ever written. 🙈 do not perceive me

Previous Work | Next Work | Masterlist

The music is a wall of sound, a thudding rhythm so loud it's practically a physical force. There's a strobing light show that seems to be designed to make people sick to their stomachs, and the dance floor is so crowded with writhing bodies you can't tell where one person ends and another begins. You're entranced by it, drawn into the pulsing beat. It's like a heartbeat, and you swear it's calling to you, drawing you in.

It's been ages since you were out at a club like this. You never realized how much you missed it. You've spent months fighting battles on countless planets, patching up the squad after every fight, and then going back out and doing it all over again. The only thing that really makes the exhaustion worth it is the promise of something like this—the thrill of a good time, of letting loose and just enjoying yourself.

The song ends and another one takes its place. The music changes, but the crowd doesn't. Everyone on the floor keeps dancing, and you keep right on with them.

You don't know how long you're out there, but after a while you're starting to get worn down. You slip away from a pair of hands around your waist, leaving a trail of apologies in your wake, and head off the floor. There's a booth in the corner of the first floor that the squad has commandeered, a rare commodity at 79s, and you stumble towards it.

You've had enough drinks that you're pleasantly buzzed, and you've lost count of the number of people you've danced with. It's made your body feel alive and hot, the music's thudding beat thrumming through your skin. You haven't had this much fun in months, and for the first time in a long time, you feel free.

"Having fun?" Hunter calls out as you approach. He's sitting on one side of the round booth, next to Crosshair, who has an arm slung casually over the back. You left Wrecker out on the dance floor with a group of Twi'lek women who seem to find his bulk a source of fascination, and Tech is seated on Hunter's other side next to Echo, nursing a drink and watching the room with a passive gaze.

"Of course," you say with a laugh. "You're not?"

"Eh." Crosshair scoffs, not bothering to look over at you. His eyes are trained on the dancers out on the floor. "Not really."

"What about you, Tech?" you ask, leaning against the table and taking a sip of your drink.

"I find the entire affair rather fascinating," he says as he gestures vaguely at the crowd. "All the various forms of sentient expression are...interesting, to say the least."

"And what do you think of my form of expression, Tech?" you ask playfully, putting your hand over your heart and giving him a flirty smile. You take a seat at the end of the booth and lean closer.

Tech, ever immune to your antics, doesn't miss a beat.

"You appear to be expending a lot of energy on a relatively simple activity. However, the results do seem to be pleasing to you."

"What he's trying to say is, you look like you're having a good time," Echo supplies. He has his chin propped on his hand, but he's smiling at you, clearly amused. You meet his gaze and grin back.

"I am having a good time," you confirm. "How about you?"

"It's not exactly my scene," he says, and he gives a shrug. "But I can see why you'd enjoy it."

"If you change your mind and want to dance, just let me know," you tell him. "You know, since I'm already expending all this energy."

"Maybe later," he says.

His smile softens, and you're a little surprised to see it. The last few months have been hard on Echo, and you can count on one hand the number of times you've seen him smile like that. He's been working through a lot of guilt and self-loathing, and seeing him smile, even if it's small, is a nice change. It's good to see him loosening up a bit.

"I'll hold you to that," you tell him, and Echo grins and leans back.

"Are you sure you don't want to come out on the dance floor, Tech?" you ask, glancing over at him.

Tech shakes his head. "I prefer not to dance."

"What about you two? Not planning on getting out there?"

"I would sooner stick my hand in a rocket booster than step foot on that dance floor," Crosshair says without looking away from the crowd.

Hunter nods, and he gestures with his bottle. "That goes for me, too."

"Bunch of party poopers," you mutter and take a drink. "You should be ashamed of yourselves."

“There‘s no shortage of people willing to dance with you," Crosshair says, still staring at the crowd, and you can hear the teasing lilt in his voice. "No need to bother with us."

"We wouldn't want to deprive the galaxy of your...talents," Tech says.

"Very funny." You take a long drink and let the conversation drop.

"So," Hunter starts after a long silence. His eyes flicker to Echo and back to you, and he raises a brow. "How many people did you have to beat off with a stick on the dance floor?"

"Not too many," you say. "Only a few."

"Only a few, huh?" Crosshair asks. He sounds skeptical.

"Cross, don't act like you weren't counting every guy I danced with," you retort, and when he doesn't immediately respond, you grin and lean forward, bracing your elbows on the table. "See? Knew it."

"Don't flatter yourself," he says. "I was bored. Had nothing better to do."

"Yeah, yeah," you say, rolling your eyes. "Whatever you say. Don’t worry, none of them are worth mentioning."

“What about that guy who was talking to you earlier?" Echo asks, and he nods over to a spot near the bar. "I saw him buy you a drink. Didn't look like nothing."

"Who, that Mirialan?" You wave a dismissive hand. "Nah, he was cute, but not really my type.”

Echo gives a low hum of acknowledgement, his eyes never leaving yours, and you feel a strange thrill at the attention. You've always loved the way he looks at you. There's something about his eyes that makes your heart skip a beat, something warm and knowing and inviting. You’ve caught him looking at you like this plenty of times before, but tonight feels different. It feels almost daring. You sit up straighter and turn toward him.

"And what is your type?" he asks. There's an edge of seriousness to his question, and you consider him for a moment, watching him watch you.

"I like someone who can keep up with me," you say finally, and then, with a playful smile, add, "You know, someone with stamina."

Echo laughs a quiet, low chuckle, and your chest tightens. His laugh is a rare and beautiful thing, and you feel a thrill when you hear it.

"Stamina," he repeats, his voice soft and warm. There's a dazed look in his eye, and he blinks it away and meets your gaze again. “Right.”

The conversation is interrupted when Wrecker comes back to the table, panting and laughing, clearly out of breath. There's a sheen of sweat on his forehead and his cheeks are flushed, but he looks thrilled. He drops into the booth next to you, and the motion shoves you closer to Echo. You feel his leg brush yours under the table, and the sudden touch sends a warm spark shooting up your spine.

"This is great!" he shouts over the music. "Why don't we go out more?"

"Because our lives are a shitshow," Crosshair deadpans, finally turning to look at the rest of the squad.

Wrecker lets out a hearty laugh, and reaches across the table to give Crosshair a good-natured smack on the shoulder. "Ah, don't be so gloomy!"

"I'm not being gloomy, I'm being realistic," Crosshair replies with a scowl, but he softens a bit when Wrecker pulls back and settles into the booth, his arm slung over the back behind you.

"Oh, don't listen to him," Wrecker says. He's turned towards you now, and his arm is pressing against the back of your shoulders. "We should go out more often. You're a great dancer, y'know that?"

"You're not so bad yourself,” you say with a grin. “You're pretty light on your feet for someone so big."

Wrecker lets out a loud, barking laugh, pulling his arm out from behind you to slap his knee. His laugh is infectious, and you can't help but laugh along.

"You hear that, Cross?" he says. "I'm light on my feet."

"You're a regular acrobat," Crosshair drawls, his tone flat, but the hint of a smile plays at his lips.

"See, you're in a good mood!" Wrecker says, his smile growing. He takes a long pull from his drink, and then sets the glass down on the table, turning back to you. “Let’s go back out there! You and me, we'll show these losers how it's done."

"I need a break," you say, holding up a hand to stop him. "Sorry, Wrecker. Maybe later."

"Aw, alright," he says. He's still grinning, and he claps you on the shoulder with a bit more force than necessary. Your body rocks to the side, and you let out a breathless laugh as Echo puts a steadying hand on your arm.

"Easy there," Echo warns. His fingers linger on your forearm, and you can't help the thrill that rushes through you. You meet his gaze, and the corners of his mouth twitch.

"Thanks,” you say, and offer him a small smile.

Echo doesn't say anything. He just smiles back and pulls away, lifting his drink to his lips.

The conversation moves on, but you're barely paying attention to anything other than the feeling of Echo's leg against yours, the heat of his body, the lingering feeling of his hand on your arm. The touch was casual, friendly, but there's a part of you that wants to reach out and take his hand. It's been a while since you've gone dancing, and it's been longer since you've had any kind of physical intimacy, and a small, desperate part of you wants that contact. Especially if it’s Echo.

You steal a glance at him and find him looking back at you. His gaze is focused, a bit calculating, like he's trying to puzzle you out, and there’s a faint flush high on his cheeks. You raise an eyebrow at him, and his lips curl into a small smile. The two of you share a long look, and you wonder if he's thinking the same thing as you are.

"I'm gonna head back out," Wrecker says, and the words snap you out of your trance. He's standing next to the booth now, his drink empty, his hands splayed out on the table. "You guys should come out there with me. Stitches, c’mon!”

"I told you, I need a break," you say, a teasing smile playing at your lips. "Why don't you take Hunter? He was just saying how much he wanted to dance.”

"No," Hunter says immediately, shooting you a warning look. "Absolutely not."

"Yes!" Wrecker exclaims. 

The small smirk on Crosshair’s face spreads into a full on grin as he stands from the booth, pulling a grumbling Hunter up with him. He pushes him into Wrecker’s awaiting arms, and Wrecker gives a loud cheer. “Let’s go, Sarge!”

"You're a traitor," Hunter hisses, shooting you a dirty look over his shoulder as Wrecker drags him away. You give him a cheeky little wave, and he narrows his eyes.

"Have fun!" you call after him. You can hear Hunter let out a loud groan over the sound of the music, and you laugh as the pair disappears into the crowd.

Crosshair snickers and slips back into the booth, stretching out across the seat and resting his arm across the back. "Well, this’ll be entertaining."

"He'll be fine," Tech says, taking a sip of his drink before returning to his datapad. The four of you laugh a moment, and then fall into a companionable silence.

With the other two distracted, you slide closer to Echo, letting your leg press against his. You don't know if he does it on purpose or not, but he shifts and his leg presses harder against yours, a solid weight against you.

You let your eyes wander to the dance floor, where Hunter and Wrecker are dancing amongst the crowd. Hunter seems to have loosened up a tad, and his movements are more fluid, less rigid. But when he turns to look over at you, you can see the murder in his eyes. You can't help but laugh and give him another wave.

"You're cruel," Echo says, leaning in so his voice will carry over the noise, his breath warm on your cheek.

"No, I’m a genius," you reply easily.  "And an opportunist."

You turn your head back towards him, and the two of you are close—much closer than you expected. His face is only inches from yours, and he's so close that you can see the flecks of gold in his brown eyes, the stubble on his jaw, the tiny scar on his forehead.

He's looking at you the way he did earlier, and a wave of warmth runs through your body, pooling low in your belly.

"A dangerous combination,” he says. He looks down, and his lips curl into a smile.

You laugh, and his eyes dart up to meet yours. "Is that a good thing?"

Echo pauses, considering. "I guess we'll find out."

There's a tension building between the two of you, and for a moment, neither of you speak. He's studying you with that intense, focused gaze again, and your body is thrumming. You've felt this feeling before, whenever Echo looks at you like that.

He's attractive—that was an undeniable fact. And he's funny, and smart, and caring, and he's a really, really good friend. But it's the moments like this, the times when his focus is all on you, that make you wish for something more.

You don't know what exactly that something more is, but right now, you can't help but imagine his lips pressed against yours, the feeling of his fingers running through your hair, the heat of his body pressed up against yours. It's been so long since you've had any sort of contact like that, and right now, it's all you can think about.

"So," Echo says, finally breaking the silence. His voice is a low rumble. "Stamina, huh?"

You hum, nodding. "It's a requirement."

"And what other requirements are there?"

"Depends," you say with a little shrug. You find yourself leaning in a fraction, drawn to him, and he mimics the motion. You’re not sure if he even realizes he’s doing it, but the sight of him moving towards you sends a hot pulse of anticipation through you.

"On?" he asks. There's a teasing lilt in his voice, a gentle playfulness, and you can't help but smile. His eyes drop to your mouth and then flick back up to meet yours.

"Who's asking."

You watch a range of emotions flicker across his face, and then Echo leans back, the tension in the air dissipating. He takes a sip of his drink and gives you a smile. "Good to know."

He turns back to the group, and you feel the loss of his gaze like a physical thing. The conversation shifts, and Echo starts talking to Tech, and the two of them get caught up in whatever it is they're discussing.

You can't focus on the conversation. Your eyes are fixed on Echo's face, watching him. It's like something has shifted between the two of you, and you're not entirely sure what that means. It's hard to read him sometimes—he's not exactly forthcoming with his emotions, but you had thought there was a mutual attraction, an understanding.

But then, you can be wrong about these things. it wouldn’t be the first time, and now that the moment has passed, it feels like it never even happened. You move to a sip of your own drink to try to calm your racing heart before you realize it’s empty.

"I'm gonna grab a refill," you say, sliding out of the booth and turning back toward the table. You ignore Crosshair’s smirk, and ask, "Anybody want anything?"

Crosshair and Tech both shake their heads, and Echo looks up at you and smiles.

"I'll come with," he says and slides out of the booth to follow you.

You can feel the weight of Crosshair's eyes on the back of your neck as the two of you walk off. You have a feeling that the conversation will pick back up the moment you're out of earshot, and you have a strong suspicion that you know exactly what it's going to be about.

When the two of you get to the bar, Echo flags down the bartender. The two of you place your orders and wait for the droid to prepare them, and you lean against the bar, your shoulder pressed against Echo's. He glances over at you, and you give him a smile.

"You doing okay?" you ask, tilting your head towards him.

"Yeah, why?"

"I just wanted to check in," you say. You shift a bit, leaning in closer. "We've all been under a lot of stress lately. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Echo considers your words, his brow furrowed in concentration as he looks back at you. Eventually, he seems to come to a decision, and his expression clears.

"I am," he says. "And I appreciate you checking in, but I'm fine. Really."

You nod. That's been Echo's refrain ever since he joined the Bad Batch. The squad has helped him adjust, and the new prosthetics have helped too, but you can tell it's still not easy for him. You've tried your best to support him, and the others have done the same, but there's only so much any of you can do.

"I'm glad," you say. You pause, and then, after a moment's consideration, add, "If you ever need to talk, or anything, you know where to find me."

Echo smiles and nods. “I know.”

The droid sets down your drinks, and you each grab one. For a moment, you debate whether to take them back to the table, but you can hear the sounds of shouting and laughter, and a quick glance at the crowd reveals Hunter and Wrecker stumbling back to the booth.

"Wanna stay here?" you ask, lifting your glass.

Echo looks over at the group, and then back to you. He's got that smile on his face again, and it makes your heart skip a beat.

"Sure," he says, and he hops onto one of the stools. You follow suit, sitting on the one next to him.

You sit in companionable silence for a while. You can hear the sounds of the music, of the dancers and the laughter, but the sounds seem distant, and for a moment, you and Echo are alone.

"I'm happy to see you having fun," he says, breaking the silence.

"Why's that?"

"We've been through a lot the past few months,” he answers. His voice is quiet, but the look in his eyes is steady and focused. "You deserve to have a good time."

"So do you, Echo.”

He doesn't reply, but there's a thoughtful expression on his face as he looks back out at the dance floor. His eyes are distant, and you follow his gaze with a curious tilt of your head.

"You want to get out there and dance, don't you?" you guess, a teasing grin spreading across your face.

Echo gives you a sidelong glance, and his mouth twitches in a little smile. "I told you, it's not really my scene. Not anymore, at least."

"So we'll find another way for you to have fun,” you reply as you turn on the stool to face him. You take a sip of your drink and give him a pointed look. It’s a bit forward, even for you, but the alcohol has you feeling bold, and you get the sense that Echo isn’t as put off by your flirting as he pretends to be.

The two of you lock eyes, and the moment stretches on. His eyes flit over your face, searching, and you meet his gaze, refusing to blink.

Echo rolls his eyes before ducking his head, shaking it slightly. You can see a faint blush on his cheeks, and he lets out a quiet laugh.

"Yeah, okay,” he says sarcastically, and you frown.

"You think I'm not serious?"

"No," he replies, raising his eyebrows at you. "I know you're not."

You tilt your head, studying him. He looks a mixture of amused and annoyed, but beneath that, there's something else. There's a softness to his expression, an almost pleading edge to his voice. It's a strange combination, and you're not sure how to interpret it.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because it’s you," he says, as if that explains everything.

"So?"

"So, you're..." he trails off, gesturing vaguely in your direction. You raise your eyebrows at him, and he lets out a small huff. "Look, we both know you're not really interested."

You feel a surge of annoyance. "Well, maybe I am. Why don't you give me a chance to prove it?"

Echo stares at you, his mouth set in a thin line, and for a moment, the two of you are locked in a silent stand-off. Finally, he breaks the stalemate, letting out a quiet sigh.

"What?" you ask

"Nothing," he says, shaking his head. "You're drunk."

"I am not," you protest. Your eyebrows furrow in indignation. "I've had three drinks, max. And they were light. I'm just feeling good."

"Okay, then," he says, a skeptical look on his face. "Maybe you're not drunk. But you're not exactly thinking straight, either."

You scoff. "Is anyone ever thinking straight in a place like this?"

"Very funny."

"I'm just saying, I'm serious," you insist. "I'm more than happy to have fun with you, if that's what you want."

Echo opens his mouth, and then shuts it, his lips pressed in a thin line. You've never seen him so unbalanced, and the sight fills you with a perverse sense of satisfaction.

"You're not thinking this through," he says. "You have no idea what you're offering."

"So explain it to me," you say. You set your drink down and slide closer to him, your knees brushing against the side of his leg. His eyes dart to the movement, and then back up to meet yours. There's a spark of heat in his gaze, and you can't help but smile.

"You're really—" He breaks off, his gaze dropping to your mouth, and his tongue darts out, swiping over his lips. His gaze lingers for a long moment, and you can feel the tension in the air thicken, like static electricity building just before a lightning strike.

"I'm really what?"

He lets out a frustrated sound. "You’re not making this easy.”

"Oh, please," you say, rolling your eyes. "If it was easy, it wouldn't be any fun."

"You're something else," he says, and there's an edge of frustration to his voice. He runs a hand over his face, and then looks back at you. “I’m not talking about this here.”

"Fine," you say, a little miffed. "Then come back to the ship with me, and we'll finish this conversation."

Echo lets out a long breath, his shoulders sagging. He looks torn, and you can't quite figure out what's going on in his head.

"Echo, if you're not into it, that's fine," you tell him, your voice softer. "I'm not trying to pressure you. I just wanted you to know that I'm interested."

He nods slowly, his eyes still trained on yours. There's a wariness there, and for a moment, you’re certain he's going to reject you.

Instead, he slides off the stool and takes a step forward. You turn, your legs parting of their own accord, and he moves between them. He's so close that your knees are brushing his hips, and the contact sends a spark of anticipation through you.

"Let me make this clear," he says, leaning in, and his voice is a low, raspy whisper in your ear. "You don't know what you're getting into."

"Try me."

"You really wanna go down this road?"

"Absolutely.”

There's no hesitation. You've wanted this, wanted him, for longer than you're willing to admit, and now that it's within reach, there's no way in hell you're backing down.

Echo pulls back, but he doesn’t go far. His eyes are dark, the light gold overtaken by his pupils, and a hot wave of arousal shoots through you.

"Please," you add for good measure, the word a breathless whisper.

That seems to be the last straw. Echo lets out a heavy breath, and his hand comes up, cupping the back of your head. His fingers are digging into the strands of your hair, and you can't help but tip your head back a little, letting him feel the weight of your skull in his hand. His thumb traces a soft, slow line over the nape of your neck, and you shiver at the sensation.

"This is a bad idea," he says. His words are barely a murmur, and they send a warm thrill running through you.

"Yeah," you agree. You reach up and curl a hand around the back of his neck, stroking the sensitive skin with your thumb, and his eyes flutter closed. “Come back to the ship with me.”

“Kriff,” he mutters, his voice rough. He looks back at you, his eyes searching your face, and he lets out a frustrated huff.

Echo steps back, releasing his hold on your head, and you hold your breath as you watch him. You wait for him to leave, to walk away from you, but he just reaches for his drink and finishes it, his eyes never leaving yours. When he's done, he sets the empty glass on the counter and holds his hand out.

"Let's go."

You can't help the way your face lights up at the words. You finish the last of your drink and take his hand, letting him pull you to your feet. You weave through the crowd, the two of you practically joined at the hip, his hand still grasping yours tightly.

"Do you want to let the others know we're leaving?"

"Nah," Echo says. He doesn't turn to look at you, his eyes fixed ahead as he pulls you along. "They're too busy having a good time."

"But—"

"Stitches.”

He glances over his shoulder, giving you a sharp look. The intensity in his gaze, the hunger, is enough to send a rush of heat through your body, and you swallow.

"Oh," you say, the word almost a gasp. 

Echo gives you a little smile, and his hand slips away from yours. For a moment, the loss is nearly overwhelming, and then his fingers skim over your lower back. They trace a slow line down to your hip, and his hand settles there, guiding you through the crowd. The touch is light, gentle, but it's the possessiveness of it that sends a shiver up your spine.

When the two of you step through the doors and into the night air, he lets his hand slip lower, until it's resting just above the swell of your ass. You're not sure if the motion is intentional or not, but it sets a fire alight in you, and you have to resist the urge to press back against his palm or try to coax him to move lower.

You slow down. "So, uh, are we gonna—"

"Walk and talk," Echo says, cutting you off with a gentle push forward. His voice is low, and there's an authoritative edge to it that makes your knees feel weak. "The others will notice that we're gone eventually. We don't have a lot of time."

"Okay," you say, nodding. The two of you walk quickly through the city, and you're grateful for the fresh air. It clears your head a fraction, enough that the buzz of the alcohol has started to fade, and you're left with a sharp clarity.

The silence between the two of you is tense, but it's not uncomfortable. It feels charged, full of energy, and you're keenly aware of his hand on your lower back. His fingers are splayed out, his hand spanning the width of your waist, and his thumb is tracing a slow line over the fabric of your shirt.

It's driving you crazy, and you can't help the way you arch your back, pushing into the pressure. You feel his grip tighten, and you bite your lip, fighting back a moan.

Echo lets out a small chuckle. "Someone's eager."

"I thought we’ve established that already,” you reply. You let a bit of a whine slip into your voice, and when he looks over, his eyes are wide.

"Are you always like this?" he asks.

"Like what?"

"This..." he trails off, gesturing with his scomp, and his face flushes a light pink. "Teasing."

"Only when I want someone."

Echo doesn't say anything in response. He just nods and keeps walking, but you don't miss the way his grip tightens a little, or the way he starts moving faster.

The moment the two of you are through the hatch of the Marauder, Echo slams his palm on the control panel, shutting the door behind him. The ship goes dark as you stand a few feet apart, staring at each other. 

Echo leans against the wall, settling back with a considering look on his face, and he crosses his arms. He’s lit by the light coming through the window, and the pale glow makes him look otherworldly.

"Well?" you prompt, raising an eyebrow.

"Come here."

His voice is quiet, and you can barely hear him over the pounding of your heart. But the tone leaves no room for argument, and you can't help but comply. You step forward, moving slowly, and Echo's eyes track your movements. 

You stop when your shoes are a few inches from his, and you tilt your head, looking up at him. You can feel the heat radiating off of him, and it's taking every ounce of self-control not to touch him.

"What do you want from me?" he asks.

"I—"

"No," he says. His hand and scomp come up, settling on your hips, and the motion pushes the two of you together. He's so close that you can feel his breath on your face, and the warmth of his body is burning through the layers of your clothing. "Don't think about it. Tell me."

Your eyes dart down to his lips, and he doesn't miss the movement. His lips quirk upward, and his thumb rubs gentle, slow circles on the fabric of your shirt.

"I want—" you break off, hesitating, and Echo gives your hip a squeeze. The pressure is light, but it's enough to get you to focus.

"I want this. I want you," you say, the words tumbling out in a rush. You take a breath and meet his eyes. "But I want you to know that I'm not just doing this because it's convenient, or because I'm bored. I'm doing this because I like you, Echo. I have for a long time."

Echo doesn't speak, and for a moment, the only sound is the gentle hum of the ship around you. His eyes search your face, as though trying to determine if you're being truthful, and you watch as the hard edge of his expression softens, replaced by something softer, something hopeful.

"You really mean that, don't you?"

"Yeah," you reply. You feel a wave of relief at his words, and you can't help the grin that spreads across your face.

"How long?"

"I don't know," you answer honestly. You take a step closer, until there's no more space between the two of you. He doesn't move, but you can see the way his breath catches, and you can feel the way his hand tightens on your hip.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because you weren't ready," you say. You take a deep breath, and the motion makes his eyes drop to your mouth again. "I wanted to wait until you were ready. So I just want you to know, this isn’t—I mean, it's not just a fling, or anything. I want this to mean something."

"Good," he says quietly. "Me too."

You can't help the sigh of relief that escapes your lips. "Thank fuck."

Echo's lips twitch, and he ducks his head. The tips of his ears are a bit pink, and his shoulders are shaking a little.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing," he says, looking back up. There's a soft smile on his face, and it makes your stomach flutter. "I just—you're really cute, you know that?"

"Am I?"

"Yeah," he replies, and his fingers start tracing patterns on your hip. The feeling is a light, tickling sensation, and you can't help the way your body shifts a bit, moving closer.

“Is that a good thing?” you ask.

"Depends," he says, and the way he parrots your words makes you laugh. He smiles and adds, "And I’m a little relieved. I don't do flings."

"Then why'd you agree to come back here with me?"

"Because I trust you," he says. "And because I want you. More than I've wanted anyone in a long time. Maybe ever."

"Yeah?"

Echo nods, his eyes never leaving yours. You're both close, and you can feel the tension building between the two of you. He's not holding back anymore, and his expression is open, his emotions plain on his face. The butterflies in your stomach kick up, fluttering wildly. Echo reaches up, brushing a stray lock of hair from your face. He tucks it behind your ear, and the contact is gentle, tender. His fingers brush against the sensitive shell, and the feeling is so delicate, so soft, that it sends a shiver through you.

"Yeah."

You nod, a smile spreading across your face. "Okay, then."

"Okay."

He's smiling now too, and the sight is almost too much. You've seen him smile plenty of times before, but this one is different, and it takes your breath away. His fingers skim over the curve of your jaw, and when they reach your chin, he tilts it up, angling your face towards his. Your lips part, and you suck in a quick breath.

"So," he says, his voice quiet. His eyes drop to your mouth, and he pauses for a moment, just staring. His tongue darts out, swiping over his lips, and when his gaze flicks back up to meet yours, his pupils are blown. "What do you want me to do?"

You hesitate, the words sticking in your throat. You're not quite sure how to answer the question. It's a little hard to form words when his thumb is brushing over the soft, sensitive skin of your chin.

"Don't get shy on me now," Echo murmurs. "Come on, tell me."

"I want—" You break off, swallowing. Your throat feels dry, and you try again. "I want you to kiss me."

His mouth curls up into a smirk. "You can do better than that."

"Kriff, Echo, just—"

His grip on your chin tightens a fraction, and you force yourself to swallow and try again, more confidence in your voice. "I want you to fuck me. I want you to take what you want. I want you to make me feel good. Is that enough for you?"

Echo's smirk melts away, and his lips part, his breath coming out in a quick huff. His eyes are fixed on your mouth, and his pupils are dilated, his irises just a thin ring of gold around the edges.

"Fuck," he mutters, and his eyes flicker back up to meet yours. There's an intensity to his gaze that sends a shiver through you, and the feeling is only heightened when his thumb traces the edge of your bottom lip, his touch light.

"So what do you think?" you ask, unable to keep a hint of amusement from creeping into your voice.

Echo shakes his head, his brow furrowed, and you can't help the way your lips curve into a grin. His gaze darts back down to your mouth, and his own lips twitch. When he speaks, his voice is low and husky.

"I knew it."

"Knew what?"

"That you'd be like this," he says. There's a teasing note in his voice, but the look on his face is serious, and you can't help the shiver that runs through you.

"You've been thinking about it?" you ask softly.

"Yeah, I have," he mutters, and then he's moving. He grips your waist, lifting you, his scomp arm sliding underneath your ass, and he turns, pressing you against the wall. The sudden motion and the cool metal at your back sends a rush of adrenaline through you, tearing a sound from your lips.

"I've been thinking about it too," you admit, wrapping your legs around his waist. You're clinging to him, and you can't stop the way you're moving your hips, rubbing against him.

"You have, huh?"

"Yeah," you breathe. "You have no idea."

He makes a sound, a cross between a laugh and a groan. He closes his eyes, and his head falls forward, his forehead pressing against yours.

"I've been driving myself crazy," he mutters, his voice thick with desire. "Just wondering."

"Is that why you've been staring at me?"

He huffs a quiet laugh, and he lifts his head, a rueful smile on his face. "You noticed."

"It was hard not to." You grin, leaning back a fraction, and his grip on your hip tightens, his fingers digging into the fabric of your pants. "Especially when I was trying to catch you."

He lets out a frustrated sigh, and he presses you against the wall, his hips grinding into yours. The pressure is firm and steady, and you can't stifle the moan that slips out.

"You are cruel," he says, and there's a note of wonder in his voice.

"So are you," you shoot back, rocking your hips against him. "All that eye-fucking."

"Eye-fucking," he repeats, letting out a short laugh. "That's what you're calling it?"

"It's accurate."

He lets out another quiet chuckle, his body shaking a fraction, and the motion sends a shiver up your spine.

"I just had to figure it out," he explains. "I had to make sure."

In the dim light, it's hard to see the details of his face, but you can't miss the heat in his eyes, or the flush that colors his cheeks. You can't help the soft laugh that escapes your lips, and you reach up, letting the backs of your fingers trace over his jaw.

"I didn't mind," you say softly. "I've been watching you, too."

Echo hums, a soft, thoughtful sound, his eyes searching your face. "Watching me, huh?"

"Of course," you say. You lean forward, brushing your lips over the sensitive shell of his ear. You can feel him tense against you, and when you drag the tip of your tongue along the delicate flesh, he sucks in a sharp breath. "And I've liked what I've seen."

"Fuck," he breathes, and you can feel him shudder. "Do that again."

You oblige, pressing another kiss to his ear, and this time, you let your teeth scrape over the delicate skin. He lets out a low moan, and his hips roll forward, grinding against yours.

"Kriff, that feels good," he groans, and the sound goes straight to your core. "Keep going."

You nip at the soft skin, and when his hips roll again, you grind down, pushing back. The friction is delicious, and the motion makes him gasp, his eyes fluttering shut. Your mouth trails along his jaw, and his skin is soft under your lips. You kiss a slow path along the edge, and when you reach his chin, you nip the skin, making him jerk his hips again.

"Fuck, you're—" he breaks off with a groan, his head falling back as you trail a series of kisses down his neck.

"I'm what?" your murmur, tracing a line of kisses underneath his jaw.

"You're gonna be the death of me," he manages. His head falls forward, and his mouth crashes into yours.

It's not a gentle kiss. It's messy, a little desperate, and when his tongue licks into your mouth, you can't help the whimper that escapes your lips. He tastes like spice and smoke, and he's kissing you with an intensity that makes your head spin.

You let go of his neck, and your hands move to his chest, tracing over the hard planes. His lips move frantically against yours, his scomp underneath your ass encouraging the motion of your hips, and his hand roams over your body everywhere he can reach. He grabs your waist, squeezing the soft flesh of your hip, running up your ribs and skimming over your stomach before drifting back down. He cups your ass, grabbing a fistful of the flesh and tugging you closer, until there's not an inch of space between the two of you.

You can't help but moan, and the sound seems to spur him on. He lets out a low groan and pulls away, leaving a trail of biting kisses along the line of your jaw, down your throat. His mouth is hot and wet against your skin, and he nips the sensitive flesh, soothing the sting with his tongue.

"Echo," you gasp. "Bed, please. Now."

He nods before his mouth finds yours again. The kiss is sloppy and deep, his tongue sliding against yours, and you can't help the moan that escapes your lips as he pulls away. Echo steps back and sets you on your feet, steadying you with his scomp when your knees wobble.

"Come on," he murmurs. He takes a step forward, backing you toward the bunks, and his gaze doesn't leave yours as he navigates the small space.

His bunk is only a few steps away, and when you reach it, Echo stills. He turns you, guiding you until you're facing the bed, your back to him. You can feel the warmth of his body behind you, the press of his armor against your back.

"Take off your shirt," he says, his voice low in your ear. His scomp is a firm weight on your hip, keeping you still, and his other hand drifts over your side, ghosting over your ribs.

You reach for the hem of your shirt and tug it over your head, letting it fall to the ground. Echo deftly unhooks your bra, sliding the straps down your arms, and you toss it on top of your shirt. He presses a soft, gentle kiss to the back of your neck, and his hand slides up your waist.  You're not sure when he took the glove off his hand, but his fingers are tracing a slow, languid path, his calluses sending little tingles over your skin.

"Take off your pants," he says. The words are quiet, almost reverent, and his fingers brush over the soft swell of your breast.

You follow his command, taking off your boots and socks before you slide the pants down your legs. Your underwear is last, and the thin material is soaked through, the damp fabric clinging to the sensitive flesh.

When you turn back around, he's watching you with a look of open desire. His eyes are dark and heated, and the way they drag over your body, taking in the sight of your naked form, sends a flush spreading over your skin.

"You're overdressed," you say, and there's a teasing edge to your voice.

Echo doesn't answer, just gives you a heated look before turning his attention to his armor. He removes it piece by piece, until the only thing left is his blacks. The fabric clings to his body, outlining the hard planes of muscle and the sharp angles of his shoulders. You can't help but watch him, taking in the sight of him, and the longer you stare, the more he seems to relax.

"Enjoying the show?" he asks, his mouth quirking in a smile.

"Yes," you say honestly. "Very much."

"Good," he says, and he lifts his scomp, making a twirling motion. "Turn around."

You obey, turning back around, and out of the corner of your eye, you see him smile.

"Now bend over," he says, and the words send a bolt of heat straight to your core. "Hands on the bunk."

"Echo—"

"Trust me," he murmurs, and the words send a shiver down your spine. "It'll be worth it."

You nod, and slowly bend at the waist. You brace yourself, leaning forward and resting your weight on your forearms. The position leaves you vulnerable, and you can't help the way a hot, tingling blush creeps over your skin.

"Good," Echo murmurs. His hand slides over your hip, and he gives it a light squeeze before trailing his fingers over the curve of your ass.

"Are you—"

"Don't move," he says, and the words send a jolt of heat straight through you. He's standing so close, his body nearly pressed against yours, and the warmth of his body is seeping into you, heating your skin. "Just let me take care of you."

He steps back, and you can't help but squirm, trying to follow him. "But—"

"What did I just say?" he asks, and the tone of his voice makes your core clench.

"Echo," you whine, and your voice is a bit higher than usual. You can't help the way the heat creeps into your face, or the way your stomach flutters.

"What did I say?" he repeats. He reaches up and brushes his fingers over the curve of your ass, his touch feather-light.

"Don't move."

"Good girl," he says. You hear him drop to his knees behind you, and his hand slides over the curve of your ass. He grabs a handful of the flesh, squeezing it, and the pressure is enough to make your hips jerk.

"Stay still," he says, his voice low and firm. "You know the rules."

"Yeah," you breathe, a bit breathless. "I'll be good."

Echo doesn't say anything, but his thumb rubs a slow, soothing circle over the soft skin. His hand slips from your ass and comes up to the junction of your thighs. He traces the crease where your leg meets your ass, and his fingers brush over the sensitive skin.

"Open your legs," he murmurs, his breath hot on the skin of your inner thigh. "Wider."

You obey, widening your stance, and when you do, he lets out a low hum of approval.

"Just like that," he says. His scomp rests on your hip, steading you as his fingers dip between your thighs. They drag over the sensitive folds, spreading the slick arousal coating your core. The touch is light, teasing, and it's barely enough to satisfy the ache building inside you.

"Kriff, Echo," you groan, and your voice is a bit shaky. "Please, don't—"

"Don't what?" he asks. His hand stills, and he doesn't move, his fingers barely touching the heated flesh.

"Don't tease me," you beg, and the words come out a bit strangled.

"You like it, though," he says. He leans forward, his tongue darting out and dragging a slow, wet line up your core. The feeling makes your hips jerk, and the muscles of your abdomen clench. "Don't you?"

"Yes," you gasp, and the word comes out a bit ragged. You can feel your walls clenching around nothing, desperate for any kind of friction, and the tension is nearly unbearable.

"Then let me," he says, and his voice is a low, raspy murmur. "Let me make this good for you."

He ducks his head again, and his tongue is hot and slick as it drags through your folds, the tip just barely dipping inside your entrance. He repeats the motion, his tongue teasing the sensitive flesh, and the feeling makes your hips buck. His scomp is firm on your hip, preventing you from moving too far, and you can't quite decide if the lack of control is maddening or exhilarating.

"Echo," you whine, and the sound is a plaintive, pleading noise.

He doesn't answer. His thumb and scomp move, his thumb spreading the swollen lips of your pussy, and his scomp helps holds them apart, giving him better access. The motion leaves you exposed, the cool air of the ship caressing the heated flesh, and the feeling makes a shiver run down your spine.

"Look at you," he murmurs. He lets out a low, satisfied sound, and you can't help the way you push into his touch. "So eager."

He dips his head and his tongue slides over your core, tracing a slow, torturous line to your clit. When he reaches it, he presses a wet, open-mouthed kiss to the throbbing bud. The feeling is almost too much, and your hips buck, trying to get away from the sensation.

"No, no, no," he says. "None of that."

His hand grips your hip, holding you still as he teases the bundle of nerves with his tongue. He traces circles around it, and when he sucks it into his mouth, the feeling makes your legs tremble.

"Oh, fuck," you moan, and your hands curl into fists, clutching at the blankets.

"Do you like that?"

"Yes," you gasp. "Feels good."

He hums, the vibration making your legs shake. "How about this?"

You suck in a breath as he presses his tongue flat against your clit, his lips wrapped around the throbbing bundle. His tongue strokes the sensitive flesh, and when he slides a finger inside you, your vision blurs.

"Oh, fuck, yes," you groan. "Yes, yes, please, just like that."

"Good," he says. His voice is a low rasp, and it makes heat pool in your belly. "You're doing so good for me."

Your walls clench around his finger, drawing him deeper, and he starts a slow, torturous pace, working his finger in and out of your dripping cunt.

"Please," you pant. "More. I need more."

"Like this?" he asks. He slides a second finger along with the first, stretching the delicate tissue. The burn is delicious, and it feels so good, the way his fingers fill you up. His mouth is hot and slick against you, and his tongue is dragging over the hard bud of your clit. His fingers thrust slowly, the motion gentle, and his scomp is holding you still, keeping you from pushing back against him. 

The way he's forcing you to stay still, to let him do as he pleases, is sending a hot, tingling flush spreading over your skin. Your eyes squeeze shut, and your breath is coming in short, shallow pants, your entire body wound tight.

"Do you like that?" Echo murmurs, his lips brushing against the soft skin of your inner thigh.

"Yes," you manage. You can feel the heat rising inside you, the tension building in your belly, and your toes are starting to curl. "So much."

"Good girl," he says, and the words send a wave of warmth rushing through you. "You're being so good for me."

"Thank you," you pant. "Feels so good."

He hums in response as his scomp leaves your hip, and you feel the cold, metal appendage drag down the curve of your ass. It slides lower, until the tip of the metal is just barely pressing against the folds of your entrance. The feeling is foreign and strange, and the sensation makes you jerk.

"Is this okay?" he asks.

"Y-yes," you say. The sensation is unfamiliar, and the feeling of the cool metal against your core is making your muscles twitch. "Keep going."

He slides lower through your wet folds, and the motion is slow and deliberate. It's not like his fingers or his tongue, not quite the same. It's harder, cooler, less yielding, but the contrast is delicious, and it's making your legs tremble.

"That feels..."

"Weird?" he asks, his lips brushing against the sensitive skin of your inner thigh.

"Not bad," you manage, and the words come out a bit strangled. "Different. Good."

"You want more?"

"Yes," you groan. Your hands tighten in the blankets, and the heat is starting to creep up your spine. "Yes, please."

He doesn't reply, just slides his scomp back up through the folds again, this time a little harder. The metal is smooth, and the tip is cool against your clit. He drags it over the hard bud, and the feeling makes a jolt of electricity shoot through you.

"Echo," you gasp.

"Shh," he says. His mouth is hot against your thigh, and his lips press a wet, sucking kiss to the sensitive flesh. "Just relax. Let me take care of you."

You nod, and your eyes slip shut. Your hands clench in the sheets, and the feeling of his mouth, of his fingers, of his scomp, is enough to drive all thoughts from your mind. Your head falls forward, resting against the bunk, and you can't help the soft, desperate sounds that fall from your lips.

Echo keeps up a steady rhythm, his fingers thrusting as his scomp presses patterns over the throbbing bundle of nerves. You can feel the pressure inside you growing, building, and the tension is so intense that it makes your legs shake.

"Please," you beg. "I need—"

"Shh," he soothes. "I know what you need. I'll take care of you."

You whimper, your body shaking, and the tension inside you is nearly unbearable. He keeps up a slow, steady pace, and you can feel your orgasm coiling, tightening inside you.

"I need—"

"Let go," he murmurs. He curls his fingers, pressing the tips against the bundle of nerves hidden inside you, and the feeling is enough to send you hurtling over the edge.

Your body goes rigid, your back arching, and your eyes slam shut as your orgasm crashes through you. The sensation is intense, almost painful, and the tension in your muscles is so strong that it's hard to breathe.

Echo doesn't stop, doesn't even slow. He keeps up the slow, steady pace, and it feels like hours pass before the aftershocks subside, leaving you limp and sated. Your head is spinning, and your lungs are burning as you try to catch your breath. Your release is slick and sticky on your thighs, and Echo's tongue slides over your skin, lapping it up.

"You're perfect," he murmurs. He trails a series of kisses over the swell of your ass, the tip of his nose tracing the line of your spine. "So beautiful."

Finally, Echo pulls away. He removes his fingers, and the sudden emptiness makes you gasp. You collapse forward, unable to hold yourself up any longer, and the sheets are cool and soft against your face. You're dimly aware of Echo shifting, his arm slipping under you, lifting you off the bed. He sits on the edge, holding you against him, chest to chest, and your legs fall to either side of his thighs.

"You okay?" he asks, his voice a low, husky whisper.

"I think so," you mumble. Your head is still spinning, and your limbs feel heavy, a pleasant lassitude spreading through your body. "Just need a minute."

Echo doesn't answer, just nods. He reaches up, brushing your hair away from your face. His fingertips trail over the shell of your ear, and the contact sends a shiver down your spine.

"You were so good," he murmurs. "Such a good girl."

The praise makes a hot flush spread over your cheeks, and you turn your face, hiding it in the crook of his neck.

"Don't," you mumble, the word muffled by his blacks.

"Don't what?" he asks. There's a note of amusement in his voice, and you know without looking that he's smiling.

"Don't tease me."

"But you liked it," he says. His arm tightens around your waist, and his other hand slides into your hair, gently cradling the back of your head. "And I meant every word."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," he says, and his hand moves, cupping your cheek. His thumb brushes over the soft skin, and he tilts your head up, leaning down to brush his lips against yours.

The kiss is soft and sweet, a gentle brush of lips, and it's almost enough to make your heart stop. Your hands move, reaching up and fisting in his blacks, and you pull him closer. You can taste yourself on his lips, the tangy-sweet flavor a sharp contrast to the lingering sweetness of the liquor.

When you pull away, the look on his face makes your heart skip a beat.

"You're staring," you murmur.

"Yeah," he says. He runs a thumb over the swell of your bottom lip, and the touch is soft, reverent. "You're beautiful."

"Flattery will get you everywhere."

"Good to know," he says, grinning.

You smile and reach up, tracing the line of his jaw. His skin is warm and soft under your fingers, and the stubble is a rough contrast to the smoothness of his cheek.

"I could stare at you forever," he says.

"I'm sure there's something else you'd rather be doing," you say, grinning.

"Maybe," he says. His eyes flick over your face, searching. "What about you? What would you rather be doing?"

"You," you say, and his lips twitch in a smile.

"Now who's the flatterer?"

"It's not flattery," you say, and his eyes are bright, the gold flecks in them glowing in the dim lighting. "I want you, Echo. More than I've wanted anyone in a long time."

"So what are we waiting for?" he asks.

"What, you don't want me to return the favor?" you tease, running a hand over his shoulder.

"I'd love that," he says, and his voice is a low rasp, his breath hot against your skin. "But later. Right now, I just want you."

"Well," you say, trailing your hand down his chest. "I'm not stopping you."

Echo smiles and leans down, his mouth finding yours. The kiss is soft, almost tentative, and it sends a bolt of heat straight through you. His lips are gentle against yours, and when his tongue traces the seam, you part for him.

The kiss deepens, and his tongue slides against yours, the slick, velvety muscle stroking yours. You can't help the soft, breathy sound that escapes your lips, and when his teeth nip at your bottom lip, your hands tighten in his blacks.

He lets out a soft grunt, his arm tightening around your waist, and he shifts, the movement rocking his hips forward. The friction makes a soft gasp escape your lips, and you can't help the way you press closer.

"Come on," you murmur, kissing a path along his jaw. You nip the skin, and his hips roll again, pushing up.

"Fuck, wait," he breathes. "Let me—"

You bite down, and his head falls back, exposing the column of his throat. You lean forward, nipping the skin, and the sound he makes is like a prayer.

"Come on," you say again, your teeth dragging over the skin.

"Kriff, wait," he groans, and his scomp is cool against the small of your back. "Just a second."

You pause, pulling away and looking at him.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he says, his breathing a bit ragged. "I just—it's been a while, okay?"

"A while?"

"Yeah," he says, and he's blushing, his cheeks turning a faint shade of pink. "A long while."

"So?"

"So," he says. He glances down at his lap, then back at you. "It's gonna be over embarrassingly fast if you keep doing that."

"Doing what?" you ask, unable to keep the grin from spreading across your face. "This?"

You lean forward, pressing a kiss to the soft skin just below his ear, and the action makes him suck in a breath. His hand comes up, sliding into your hair, and he guides you to the juncture of his neck and shoulder, his fingers tightening. You can't help the satisfied smile that crosses your face, and when you nip the tender skin, his hips buck, grinding against you.

"Come on," you whisper. You let your tongue slide over the skin, and his hand flexes in your hair. "You don't have to worry about me."

"That's not the point," he mutters, and his hand slides from your hair to grip your hip. "I want you to have fun."

"And I am," you murmur. You drag the tip of your tongue along the line of his throat, and the motion makes him groan. "Trust me, I'm having plenty of fun."

"You're not worried about—about..."

"About what?" you ask. "About finishing early? About getting off and leaving me hanging?"

"Yeah," he admits, his voice low. "Something like that."

"Why would I be? You already made me come," you say with a smile. "That was fun, remember?"

"Yeah," he says. His scomp slides over the curve of your ass, pulling you closer.

"Then why don't you let me have some more fun?" you murmur. You rock your hips forward, and the motion makes him groan. "Come on. Let me take care of you."

"Are you—"

"If I say it's fine, it's fine," you say. You press a line of kisses down his neck, pausing to nip the soft skin. "Stop worrying and just enjoy yourself."

"That's—"

"Easy for you to say," you finish, and he huffs out a breath.

"Come on," you murmur, nipping the skin. "Let go."

He doesn't say anything, just tugs your hips forward, grinding you against him. You can't help the soft gasp that slips past your lips, and the feel of him, even through the fabric, is delicious.

"Just like that," you whisper, your lips brushing over his jaw.

Echo rolls his hips again, and the friction is delicious. The pressure is almost too much, but his grip on you is tight, preventing you from pulling away. His mouth finds yours, his tongue sliding past your lips, and he licks into your mouth with a slow, wet slide. The kiss is messy and frantic, his tongue tracing the edges of your lips, the tip flicking over the roof of your mouth.

You moan at the feeling of his mouth on yours, the way he's taking what he wants, and the sound seems to spur him on. He surges forward, your back hitting the bed, and his body follows, covering yours. He braces himself, his weight on his elbows, his mouth never leaving yours. His tongue delves deeper, and the kiss is hard and messy, his teeth nipping at your bottom lip.

"You feel so good," he groans, his lips brushing over the soft skin. "Can I—"

"Yes," you interrupt, and he lets out a soft laugh.

"At least let me ask," he says. "It's polite."

"You’ve been very polite," you say. Your fingers trace over his ribs, and his abs clench beneath the soft touch. "But please, don't hold back anymore."

Echo pulls away, and the look on his face is enough to send a hot, tingling blush spreading over your cheeks. He's watching you with a mix of awe and desire, as his hand reaches down, fumbling with the clasp of his blacks.

"Do you need some help?" you tease, grinning.

"No," he says. His tone is firm, almost commanding, and the sound makes your stomach flip.

Echo finally manages to unclasp the garment, and his hand falls away, letting the blacks hang loose around his hips. He tugs them down, revealing the hard planes of his stomach, the sharp cut of his hips, and he slides off the bed and stands, kicking them away.

When he turns back to face you, his thumb hooks into the waistband of his briefs, and his eyes meet yours.

"You okay?" he asks.

"Are you seriously asking that question?"

"Just checking," he says. He hesitates, and the expression on his face is almost shy. "I'm not... I mean, I don't look like—"

"Echo, if you don't get your ass back over here and fuck me, I'm going to scream," you say, and he snorts.

"Alright, alright," he says. He tugs the briefs down his legs, and when his cock is free, it bobs, slapping against his abdomen. You try not to stare, but the sight of him is enough to make your core clench.

Your eyes widen, and the words die on your lips.

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"Uh-huh."

Echo steps closer, and the movement makes his cock bob again. The shaft is long and thick, the head a deep, dusky red, and the sight makes your mouth go dry. He's leaking, and when he gives himself a quick stroke, a bead of precum dribbles down the head, making the soft skin glisten.

"Fuck, you're pretty," you say, and his cheeks turn a faint shade of pink.

"You're one to talk," he murmurs, his gaze flicking over you. "I could stare at you all night."

You blush and shift, pulling your legs together. "I bet you say that to all the girls."

"No," he says, his voice soft. "Just you."

Your breath catches, and for a moment, neither of you speak.

"I should, uh, get a—"

"I have an implant,” you say, and he nods, swallowing.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," you murmur. "If you're good with it, I'm good with it."

"Yeah," he breathes, and his gaze is dark, heated. "Yeah, okay."

He hesitates for a moment before grabbing the neck of his blacks, and with a quick motion, he pulls the shirt off, dropping it onto the pile. You can't help the way your eyes roam over his body, taking in the sight of him.

His muscles are defined and well-defined, his arms and shoulders corded with lean muscle. The planes of his chest and abdomen are sharp, the lines of his muscles standing out in sharp relief under the scars that spread across his skin, and you can't stop yourself from reaching out and tracing a line over his ribs. You’re pleased to see he’s put on weight, the bones not so prominent, and there are some soft edges where there were none before.

He's beautiful, and for a moment, you're struck dumb by the sight of him. 

Echo watches you, and the longer you stare, the more his muscles twitch, his nerves clearly getting the best of him.

"Sorry, you're just—you're really hot," you say. "It's a bit intimidating."

He lets out a soft huff of laughter, and his cheeks flush.

"Yeah, right," he says. He climbs onto the bunk and crawls toward you, his eyes locked on yours. When he reaches you, he settles himself between your legs, his forearms resting on either side of your head.

"If anyone's intimidated, it's me."

"Why's that?"

"Have you seen yourself?" he murmurs. He leans down, brushing his lips against yours. "You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

The words make your heart stutter, and you reach up, cupping his cheek. "You're just saying that because you want to get laid."

"I'm just saying it because it's true," he says, and the words are a quiet whisper against your lips.

He dips his head, and his mouth finds yours again. You can't help the soft moan that escapes, and the sound makes Echo's hips rock against yours. His cock brushes against your thigh, a warm, velvety weight, and the feel of him sends a wave of heat crashing through you.

Echo breaks the kiss and rests his forehead against yours, his breathing ragged. His hips move again, and this time, his cock drags against the folds of your core.

"What do you want?" he asks, his nose brushing over the swell of your cheek. "Tell me."

"You," you say, and your hands slide over his shoulders, clutching at his back. "Inside me. Now."

Echo doesn't answer, just shifts, sliding the thick head of his cock through the slick arousal coating your folds. When the tip brushes against the bundle of nerves nestled between the swollen flesh, your hips jerk, and a soft whine slips past your lips.

"Come on," you whisper, and your voice is a breathless, needy whimper. "Just—"

"Shh," he murmurs, his mouth finding yours. "I've got you."

He reaches down, gripping the base of his cock and guiding the head to your entrance. He doesn't move, doesn't thrust, just lets the tip rest there, a heavy weight against your core. The anticipation is almost too much, and you can feel the slick, heated flesh throb, clenching around nothing.

"Gods, Echo," you breathe. "Don't tease."

"You like it," he says, and his hand slides over your thigh, his fingers wrapping around your knee. He pulls it up, spreading you open, and his hips shift, his cock bumping your clit.

"Kriff, come on," you gasp, your back arching. "Don't—"

He doesn't wait for you to finish, just pushes forward. His cock is thick, the stretch almost too much, and the sudden feeling makes a soft, keening cry slip past your lips. He stills, and you can feel him trembling, the muscles in his shoulders quivering.

"Fuck, you're tight," he chokes out. "Just—hold still for a second."

You nod, and Echo lets out a shuddering breath, his head falling forward. His forehead presses against your shoulder, and his eyes slip shut. His hips twitch, and the motion makes his cock sink another inch inside you, the stretch making a soft whine slip past your lips.

"Shit," he breathes. "You're—I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't," you gasp.

He nods and shifts his hips, sliding a few inches deeper. His cock is thick and heavy, and the feeling of him stretching you is almost too much. The fullness is almost painful, but there's something delicious about the burn, and you can't help the way you twitch, trying to get closer.

"Fuck," he groans, and the word comes out strangled. "How are you so kriffing tight?"

"Sorry," you gasp. "Been a while."

"You're going to kill me," he murmurs, and his hips push forward again, the movement a slow, steady slide. "Just—fuck, you feel so good."

His words make a bolt of heat shoot through you, and the tension inside you is nearly unbearable. You can't help the way a soft whimper slips past your lips, and the sound makes his hips jerk, his cock sinking deeper.

"Shh," he whispers, his breath hot against your shoulder. His hand tightens on your knee, and the motion spreads you wider, allowing him to sink deeper. "I'll take care of you."

"Come on," you plead. Your hands slide over his back, the skin damp with sweat, and you can feel the muscles tense and relax under your touch. "I can take it."

"I know you can," he says, and his scomp strokes the curve of your hip. "You're being so good for me. Taking me so well."

The praise makes a shiver run down your spine, and his hips thrust again, pushing forward until he's buried to the hilt. The feeling is intense, the stretch a delicious ache, and your legs fall to either side, spreading to accommodate him.

"That's it," he murmurs. "Good girl."

You can't help the way the words make your core clench, and the feeling makes his breath catch.

"You like that, huh?" he asks, his mouth moving against the hollow of your throat. "Being told what a good girl you are?"

"Echo," you whine.

"Yeah," he breathes. "You do."

He lifts his head and kisses you, his tongue sliding against yours. The kiss is slow, languid, and his hand is gentle as he cups your cheek. His thumb strokes over your skin, the touch almost reverent, and the sweetness is such a stark contrast to the way he's buried deep inside you that it makes your head spin.

"Fuck, Echo," you gasp, the words muffled against his lips.

"So good for me," he says. His hand leaves your face and moves to your leg, pulling your knee up and pressing it toward your chest. Your ankle rests on his shoulder, and the position allows him to push deeper, his hips grinding against yours.

The new angle makes him slide against a spot hidden deep inside you, and the sudden rush of sensation makes your toes curl.

"Oh, fuck," you gasp. "Right there."

"Here?" he murmurs. He repeats the motion, his hips rolling against yours, and the feeling is so intense that your vision blurs.

"Yeah," you manage through a choked sob.

"That's it," he soothes, and his hand strokes the side of your thigh. "You're doing so good for me."

His hand moves from your leg to the bunk, and his weight presses down on you, his body covering yours. His movements are slow and deliberate, his hips grinding against yours. Each thrust is a steady, rolling grind, and the pressure is so intense that it takes everything in you not to break apart.

"Good girl," he murmurs, and his mouth finds yours. The kiss is messy, a contrast of hard and soft, and when his teeth nip at your bottom lip, the sharp pinch is a delicious counterpoint to the sweetness.

His hand leaves the bunk and slides into your hair, fisting the soft strands and holding you still. The grip is firm, but not rough, and the sensation is strangely erotic, sending a rush of heat coursing through you.

"Harder," you gasp, and he obeys, snapping his hips forward hard enough to punch the breath from your lungs. The new pace is harder, faster, and the slap of flesh against flesh is loud in the quiet of the ship.

"Fuck," he groans. "You feel so fucking good."

You don't reply, just moan, and his hand tightens in your hair. His teeth graze the line of your jaw, and the sudden bite of pain is so sharp and delicious that it makes your vision blur.

"God, yes," you groan. "Harder."

He lets out a soft grunt and thrusts forward, the force of the movement making the bunk creak. You can't help the strangled cry that slips past your lips, and the noise seems to spur him on, his hips driving against yours with a force that has the bed shaking.

"Echo," you gasp, and the word comes out in a desperate, keening whine. "Please, I need—"

"I know what you need," he whispers, and his hand falls away from your hair to brace himself above you. His scomp leaves your hip and trails between your bodies, the smooth, cool metal sliding over the sensitive bud of your clit. "And I'll give it to you. You just have to trust me."

"I do," you gasp.

"Yeah?" he murmurs, and his mouth moves to your throat. His lips trail a path down the delicate skin, his tongue darting out to taste you. "You trust me?"

"Yes," you manage.

"Good," he says, his breath hot against your skin, and the tip of his scomp presses against the hard bud, circling slowly. "I'm going to make you come. Hard. And when you do, I'm going to fuck you until you're sobbing. Can you take that?"

The words send a thrill of electricity through you, and the tension inside you is so strong that it makes your legs shake.

"Can you?"

"Yes," you manage.

"Good girl," he says, and his teeth nip at the skin below your ear. His scomp moves faster, the motion a steady circle over the throbbing bundle of nerves, and you gasp when you feel it start to vibrate.

"Oh, fuck," you groan. Your back arches, pushing your breasts against his chest. "What—have you always—"

"No," he says, his voice strained. "Never used it for this. Just for you."

"That's—fuck, Echo, please," you beg. Your eyes are squeezed shut, the pleasure so intense that you can't think straight.

"You like that?" he murmurs, and the vibration gets a fraction stronger. The feeling makes a wave of heat wash over you, your muscles clenching and twitching, and your head falls back, resting on the mattress.

"Yes," you gasp.

"You're so close, aren't you?"

"Fuck, Echo," you choke out, and your nails dig into his back, scratching at the skin. He moans at the feeling, his hips driving faster, and the combination of sensations is enough to send you hurtling over the edge.

Your orgasm hits you like a bolt of lightning, and the intensity of it makes your legs spasm, the muscles twitching uncontrollably. You can't control the sounds that are coming from your mouth, desperate gasps and soft, choked sobs, and it's only the feeling of Echo's mouth on yours, kissing the noises away, that keeps you from screaming.

"Oh, fuck," he groans against your mouth. "Just like that. So good for me. Let me hear you."

The words are a whispered prayer against your lips, and the praise makes another wave of heat crash through you. Your core clenches around his cock, and the sensation is so exquisite that it makes tears sting the corners of your eyes. True to his word, he doesn't let up, and his scomp never stops, the vibrations against the sensitive nub sending sparks of electricity shooting through you.

"Please," you sob, and the words are barely audible. "Please, too much."

"One more," he pants. His breathing is ragged, and his thrusts are growing harder, his hips snapping against yours. "Give me one more. Can you do that for me?"

"I don't—I can't—"

"You can," he says. "I know you can. You're being such a good girl for me. Come on. Give me one more."

You nod, unable to speak, and Echo rewards you with a kiss, his tongue sliding against yours. His hips are moving faster, losing any pretense of control, his pelvis grinding against yours with each forward snap of his hips. His scomp circles your clit, and the feeling is so intense that your limbs go numb, a tingling sensation creeping up your spine. You can feel the pressure inside you building again, coiling, and the tension is so strong that it feels like you're going to fly apart.

"Oh, fuck," you gasp, and the words are muffled against his mouth.

"Yeah," he groans. His thrusts are rough, almost desperate, and the movement rocks the bunk. "That's it. You're doing so well. I'm going to make you come all over my cock."

"Please, Echo." Your hands grip his back so hard that you're afraid you're going to leave bruises, and you can feel his muscles tense and release, shifting under the thin layer of sweat-slick skin. "Please."

"I know," he says. His voice is low, husky, and his lips brush over the shell of your ear. "Come on, sweetheart. Be a good girl and come for me."

The words are your undoing. You can't hold back any longer, and with a loud cry, you tumble over the edge, falling headfirst into the blinding, white-hot pleasure that's coursing through you.

This time, your orgasm is too much to contain, and a scream rips from your throat, the sound echoing off the walls. Your back arches, and your legs twitch, a violent tremor wracking your frame as a hot flood of liquid spills from your core. The force of your release is enough to push Echo's cock from your body, and a wet gush follows, coating his stomach and dripping down your thighs.

"Oh, fuck," Echo chokes out. He buries his face in the crook of your neck, and his scomp falls away, slamming down beside your head, bracing himself. "Fuck, I'm—"

He doesn't finish the thought, just fumbles for his cock, gripping the base. It only takes a few quick strokes before he's coming, a loud groan escaping his lips. The first pulse hits your stomach, followed by a second, and a third, and the sensation makes a choked moan slip past your lips. He lets out a low groan, his hips twitching, and his cock dribbles the last few drops of his cum, painting a thick line over your skin.

Through your blurry vision, you see Echo's mouth is open, his eyes wide as he stares down at you, and the sight is so sweet, so genuine, that you can't help the breathless huff of laughter that slips past your lips.

"Kriff," he pants. His hand drops to the bunk, and he props himself up on trembling arms. The two of you stay frozen for a moment, chests heaving, your expressions a mirror of each other's shock.

"Fuck," Echo finally chokes out. "Are you okay?"

You nod, unable to form a coherent thought. You let your head fall back against the mattress, and the movement makes a drop of his cum run down your breast, dripping off the underside and falling to the sheets.

"Did I—"

"So good," you manage, and the words are a slurred mumble. He nods, swallowing, and then he turns, collapsing onto the bunk next to you. He lets out a noise somewhere between a groan and a laugh, and when you glance over, he has his forearm draped over his eyes, his chest still heaving.

"Fuck," he breathes. "Oh, fuck."

"What?" you ask. You try to shift, but the feeling of his cum cooling on your stomach and chest is a distracting, sticky sensation, and you're not entirely sure if your limbs are still attached.

"I, uh," he starts. Echo huffs out another small laugh as his arm falls away, and his head lolls to the side, his eyes finding yours. "That was the hottest thing I've ever seen. I don't even—you're—that was incredible."

"I can't feel my toes," you admit, and the confession makes him laugh.

"Yeah?"

"I'm serious," you say. "Like, are they still there? Is anything still there?"

He rolls onto his side, making a show of looking you over, and when his gaze lands on the mess covering your abdomen, he sucks in a sharp breath.

"Yeah," he murmurs, his eyes darkening. "They're still there. Everything's still there."

"You look smug," you say.

"Can't imagine why," he says, grinning. He reaches out, tracing a finger through the cooling mess on your skin, and the gentle caress makes a shiver run down your spine. "Fuck, look at you."

"Yeah?"

"You're a mess," he says, and he grins, leaning forward. He kisses you, his lips soft against yours, and when he pulls away, he looks a fraction more composed. "Let me clean you up."

Echo sits up, swinging his legs off the bed, and the movement makes his back muscles ripple, the motion a fluid, graceful flex of sinew and tendon. You can't help the way the sight makes your heart skip a beat, and you have the sudden urge to wrap your arms around him and bury your face in his back, to cling to him and never let him go.

"Are you okay?" he asks, looking over his shoulder at you. "Does anything hurt?"

"No," you say, shaking your head. "Everything feels... really good."

His answering grin is more self-satisfied than you're used to seeing, and the expression is so charming that you can't stop the affectionate roll of your eyes.

"Don't look so pleased with yourself," you tease.

"Hey," Echo says, getting to his feet. "I think I earned it."

"I guess so," you murmur, and he chuckles, shaking his head.

"Come here," he says, turning. He tugs you upright and wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you against his chest. The sudden motion makes a laugh bubble up in your throat, and he flashes you a grin, his arms tightening around you. He leans down, his mouth finding yours, and the kiss is sweet and tender, his lips moving over yours with a languid, easy affection.

"What's gotten into you?" you ask when he pulls away.

"You," he smirks, tilting his head. "Or I got into you. Something like that."

"Oh, shut up," you laugh, and you shove his shoulder. He smiles, a wide, crooked grin that makes your heart stutter.

"Come on," he says. He pulls away, grabbing your hip and turning you around, guiding you toward the fresher. "Let's get you cleaned up."

"I can do it," you protest, but his arm wraps around your waist, holding you close.

"I know.” 

He doesn't elaborate, just steers you toward the fresher. You lean your hip against the sink while he turns on the shower, and you let him tug you inside, his scomp hooking the handle and closing the door behind the two of you. The water is cool, but it's not unpleasant, and the droplets feel nice against your heated skin.

Echo washes you with a gentleness that takes your breath away, and the tenderness is so at odds with the man you thought you knew. His touch is careful, almost reverent, and there's a quiet intensity in the way he traces the lines and angles of your body with his hand and his scomp, the movements slow and deliberate. He pays special attention to the space between your thighs, the touch firm but still gentle, and the sensation makes you bite back a whimper.

"Shh," he soothes, and his mouth finds the hollow of your throat. He kisses the delicate skin, and the gesture is so sweet that it makes your chest ache.

"Why are you doing this?" you whisper.

"Because I want to," he says, and his thumb swipes over the swell of your breast. "And because you deserve it."

"Deserve it?" you ask as his mouth trails up your neck.

"Yeah," he murmurs. His hand slides up your ribs, and his fingers cup your breast, the palm covering the soft, supple flesh. It's a gentle touch, almost absentminded, and the intimacy of the gesture is so startling that it makes your breath catch.

"Why would you say that?" you whisper.

"Because it's true," he says, and his mouth slides along your jaw, the kiss tender. "Because you deserve to be taken care of. Because I like taking care of you."

"You do?"

"I do," he says, and the words are spoken against the delicate skin just below your ear. "More than anything."

"But—"

"It's okay," he murmurs. "Stop overthinking."

You swallow and nod, and his touch is gentle as he finishes washing you. When you're both clean, Echo leaves you under the water to change the sheets, and you try to ignore the fact that your limbs are a bit unsteady without him. 

The water starts to turn cold, and you quickly shut it off, squeezing some of the excess water from your hair. You step out of the shower and grab a towel, and you smile to yourself when you see your sleep clothes folded on the edge of the sink, Echo's handiwork evident in the perfect creases. You dry off quickly, and you're just pulling on your shorts when you hear the sound of the hatch opening and a pair of heavy footsteps rushing up the ramp.

“Echo!” Wrecker shouts, his voice frantic. The floor shakes slightly under your feet as he comes to a stop, and the hatch slides shut with a metallic clang.

You freeze, the fabric halfway up your thighs, and a bolt of panic shoots through you.

You can hear Echo outside of the fresher, and the rustle of fabric as he tosses the soiled linens to the side, followed by a few muttered curses.

"What?" he finally calls, his tone annoyed.

"There you are," Wrecker says.

"Where else would I be?" Echo snaps, and you can hear him tugging his blacks over his head.

"Crosshair said he lost track of you," Wrecker says, and you hear him walk across the ship. "Thought maybe you were in trouble. And we can't find Stitches. Have you seen her? She disappeared, and she's not answering her comm."

Your eyes go wide, and your stomach drops. Oh, fuck.

"Uh," Echo says, and you hear him shuffling around, the sounds a lot closer than they were before. "Yeah, she's here. She's just, um, taking a shower."

"Oh," Wrecker says. There's a long pause, and you can picture the look on his face, the puzzled frown as he tries to process the information. You can almost hear the gears turning in his brain, and you wait, holding your breath.

"We, uh, decided to head back," Echo explains after the silence has dragged on for a bit too long.

"Together," Wrecker adds. It isn't a question, but the note of suspicion is obvious, and Echo doesn't miss it.

"Yeah," Echo says, his voice strained. He clears his throat. "We were, uh, really tired. We were having a good time, but the club was really loud, and we just..."

He trails off, and you let out a quiet groan and press a hand to your face. You're tempted to leave the fresher, to make your presence known and get the conversation over with, but you can't quite bring yourself to open the door.

"Oh," Wrecker says again, and the way the word is drawn out makes you wince. You can practically hear the grin in his voice, and you know he's figured it out. "You guys had a good time, huh?"

"I mean, not like that," Echo says quickly, and you grimace.

"Uh huh.”

"We were just talking, and we decided to head back, and she was, um, she was drunk, and I was tired, and we were just gonna hang out and watch a holo or something."

"Right," Wrecker says, his tone knowing. "What holo were you gonna watch?"

"It’s uh…” Echo trails off, and a moment later, he lets out a sigh of defeat. You can’t help but laugh at that, the sound loud enough to echo off of the tile.

"Hey Stitches,” Wrecker calls out in greeting, and you roll your eyes and open the door.

"Hi Wrecker," you say, leaning against the door frame.

"Did you have a good time?" he asks with a wide grin.

"Yeah," you say, and you can't help the way your eyes flick to Echo. "We had a really good time."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Echo echoes. His eyes meet yours, and the expression on his face is soft, a tiny smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. You smile back, unable to keep the happiness from welling up inside you.

"Yeah," you say. You can't help the way you feel yourself blush, the heat rising in your cheeks. "It was, uh, really good."

Wrecker's grin widens, and he glances at Echo, giving him a thumbs-up. Echo blushes, his cheeks turning pink, and his shoulders lift in a small shrug.

"That's good," Wrecker says, beaming. "I'm happy for you guys."

"Thanks, Wrecker," you laugh. "Sorry for making you worry."

"It's okay." He waves a hand. "I'm glad you two had a good time. It's about time."

"Wrecker," Echo groans, and Wrecker lets out a loud guffaw.

"What? I'm not wrong." He looks between the two of you, his smile growing wider. "We've all been rooting for you two. We were starting to get a little worried, honestly. I thought I was gonna have to lock you guys in a closet or somethin'."

Echo lets out a groan and buries his face in his hand, and the sight is so comical that you snort a laugh.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," you say dryly.

"Nah, don’t apologize.” Wrecker pauses, his expression thoughtful. "Well, actually, maybe apologize to Crosshair. He's not too happy about this, since it means he lost the bet."

"The bet?"

"Oh yeah," Wrecker says. "We had a running bet on when you guys would finally hook up. Crosshair thought it would take you until at least next month, so he's pretty pissed."

"You guys were betting on us?" you ask, aghast. Echo's hand slides down his face to cover his mouth, and in his eyes is a mixture of mortification and disbelief.

"Hey, don't look at me," Wrecker says, holding his hands up in defense. "I was for you two from the start. I had last month."

"For fuck's sake," Echo mutters, and he leans against the bulkhead and stares at the ceiling, shaking his head. "Just kill me now."

"Who won?" you ask.

"Hunter," Wrecker grumbles, and he lets out a huff. "He has an unfair advantage, if you ask me."

You and Echo exchange a glance, and Echo shakes his head, looking resigned.

"Don't worry, though," Wrecker continues. "We're all glad you two are finally together."

"Yeah, well, thanks, Wrecker," Echo mutters, and Wrecker beams.

"No problem. Anyways, I’m gonna head back to the club," he says, winking. “You guys enjoy the rest of your night.”

"Sure," Echo groans, his head thumping against the bulkhead.

"Oh, we will," you say, and you shoot Echo a wicked grin. He meets your gaze, his eyes widening and his cheeks going pink before a slow smile tugs at the corner of his mouth.

"That's my girl," Wrecker crows. He grins and waves before turning on his heel and heading down the ramp. The hatch opens with a hiss, and you listen as the sound of his boots fades into the distance.

The silence is a welcome relief, and the tension seems to leave Echo's shoulders, the muscles relaxing. He takes a step toward you, his scomp reaching out to pull you close, and the motion is so sweet and natural that it makes a wave of emotion rise up inside you.

"Hey," you whisper.

"Hey."

"So," you start slowly. "That was fun."

"I'm sorry," he sighs. "If you wanted to keep it quiet, I'll talk to them."

"No, it's okay," you say, smiling. "I think it's nice."

"You do?"

"Yeah," you say. You reach up and wrap your arms around his neck, tugging him down for a quick kiss. "And I'm kind of proud that you're finally mine."

"Finally?" he asks, a smile tugging at his mouth.

"Well, yeah," you say. You press a kiss to his throat, right above his pulse, and his chest rumbles with a contented hum. "I've been interested in you since day one."

"Really?"

"You're kind of hard to resist," you admit, and he huffs out a soft laugh.

"Trust me, the feeling is mutual."

"Well, I'm glad you're not fighting it anymore."

"Me too," he murmurs. His arms wrap around you, pulling you closer, and he leans down and brushes his lips over yours. The kiss is tender, affectionate, and his hand trails over your lower back in a gentle caress.

You pull back, and his forehead dips to rest against yours, his breathing steady.

"Do you wanna watch that holo?" you ask, and he huffs a laugh.

“Sure.”

You grab your datapad and settle onto the bunk, and Echo curls up beside you, wrapping an arm around your waist. His touch is warm and comforting, and the feeling is enough to make your chest ache.

You put on a mindless holodrama, some action flick that's probably more entertaining if you've actually seen the other movies in the series. You don't mind, though. The plot isn't that interesting, and the acting is pretty bad. What really draws your attention is the feel of Echo pressed against your side, the weight of his arm draped over your waist, and the rise and fall of his chest as he breathes. It's comfortable, and intimate, and just what you both need.

And if, during the holo, Echo's hand starts creeping up your shirt, and his mouth starts tracing the curve of your jaw, well, that's nobody's business but yours.

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technical devotion, part eighteen: the search

a/n: late as promised!! this chapter tried to kill me actually, like it held me at knifepoint and everything

warnings: allusions to torture, echo being sad and lowkey a dick at one point

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Echo was sat on a crate at the back of the command room, his head in his hands. He was carefully controlling his breathing, something he found himself doing far too often now. He could hear someone speaking, but it wasn’t until they placed a firm hand on his shoulder that he realised they were speaking to him. His head shot up to see Rex looking down at him worriedly.

“Sorry, what did you say?” He asked, blinking a few times.

“I asked if you’d eaten today” Rex spoke quietly in the somewhat crowded room.

“Yeah, yeah” Echo waved him off, rolling his eyes as he looked away, “I ate earlier”

Rex knew he was lying, but he decided to hold his tongue for now.

“We’re going to discuss the mission now” He told him, “Will you be there?”

“Of course I will” Echo snapped, his expression almost offended.

“Alright” Rex replied, patting his shoulder as he moved away, “Come on then”

Echo lifted himself from the crate, and joined the clones that had gathered in a circle around the central holotable, which included Rex, Gregor, Howzer, Teddy, Oscar and Spider. Anyone and everyone who cared to see Kan returned to them.

“Okay” Rex began with a deep sigh, “We know that she’s no longer in the prison, Echo, Gregor and I made sure of that. Now, we have reason to believe that… this is where she may have been transferred”

He plugged a datastick into the table and an image appeared, a structure.

“I received this schematic from Senator Organa. He is under the impression that this is where the Empire have been sending people that have outwardly rebelled against them”

“Does he know that she’s there?” Howzer asked.

“No, but it’s a best guess” Rex replied, “It’s a very secure facility though. It’s on Corellia so it’s more guarded than one on an unknown planet like the last place. It will be difficult to get into, and you can see here that it’s comprised of two disconnected parts, so if you go in one and she’s in the other, you can’t get through without going out and back in the other one”

“How will we know which one she’s in?” Teddy asked.

“We won’t” Rex sighed, “We’re going to have to just go in one and see if we can find any information and hope we chose the right one, or it’ll be a hell of a lot harder”

“What if-” Spider began, then glanced at Echo before continuing, “What if it goes wrong, and she gets hurt because of us?”

Echo scoffed. She. Not a single one of them could even bring themselves to utter her name.

“There’s not a single mission that is without risk, that’s why we’re in this position in the first place” Echo pointed out, “Now I don’t know about you, but I’d rather try and fail than not try at all. If there’s even a single chance that she’s in there then I’m not even considering not going”

A silence settled over the group, and Echo wanted to scoff again. They all knew how on edge he was, and he knew that they were all waiting for him to break. Kan had been gone for over a month now, and Echo was at his wits end. He had elected to stay in Kan’s bed, but he couldn’t sleep, his mind never failing to remind him of the presence that could be beside him.

Rex took a deep breath before he spoke, “We’re going, that part isn’t up for debate, it’s how we’re going to do it that we need to figure out”

As the clones begun going over the schematics, finding any potential weak points and plotting their way through the prison, Echo couldn’t help but let his mind wander to Kan. It all felt so impersonal, the discussion of such a plan, without much thought, or reference, of the person at the centre of it. Echo was worried about the state they might find Kan in if they did find her at all. She was at the mercy of the Empire, and there was no way she had escaped being harmed in some way.

In a few hours, Rex had cobbled together a plan for infiltrating the prison, and he disbanded the rest of the clones to prepare for the mission. Echo stayed leaning against the table and looking into the building schematic despondently. Rex watched him carefully for a moment before speaking.

“Echo, are you sure you’re up for this?”

Echo’s head snapped up, “What? Yes. Why?”

“Well” Rex sighed, gesturing to him, “You don’t seem to be all here, and it’s not hard to guess why”

Echo scowled, “Oh and I suppose I should leave it up to you right? Because that went so well last time”

Rex crossed his arms, unafraid to call out his brother, “And what the kriff is that supposed to mean?”

“You know what it means” Echo gritted his teeth together, “You promised me she’d be safe, that you’d protect her, and in case you forgot, you failed”

“I’m going to give you the chance to take that back” Rex spoke lowly.

“It’s the truth” Echo claimed, enunciating each syllable with fierce precision.

“Do you really think I don’t know that?” Rex practically growled, “Do you think that I don’t care at all? I know it’s my fault, that I shouldn’t have let it happen, but I did. And now, I’m doing everything in my power to get her back”

Echo was quiet. He glared at his brother and left the room in a huff, striding down the hall towards the safety of Kan’s office. Once the door was shut and locked, Echo stood still and stared down at his feet, letting his eyes well up. A tear escaped and fell onto his boot, the soft leather absorbing it quickly.

Echo didn’t like to cry. It made him feel weak. Though more than that, it made it even harder to stop thinking about what was going on. He was reluctant to feel hopeful about Kan being in the prison, but he mustered up all of the strength within him nonetheless for the eventuality that she could be. He wiped the tears from his face and sniffed quickly, drawing himself to his full height and blowing out a breath.

He turned on his heel, and opened the door back up, making his way towards the landing platform.

Echo kept to himself on the journey there, not that anyone else was feeling particularly chatty. He was determined, and although weary of it, he was becoming more and more hopeful that they would find Kan. Now as they navigated the streets of Corellia, his mind was singularly focused on the mission.

There was a large shipyard located beside the prison, and as they approached, Echo could see new prisoners being escorted inside a large door. That wasn’t their first goal though, they first were going to break into the records room next to it.

The clones slipped behind a patrol of stormtroopers, flattening themselves against the wall in the darkness. A group of stormtroopers that had obviously just finished their shift were still lingering, chatting amongst themselves. Echo tuned into their conversation when he heard something he’d rather he hadn't.

“Did you get a look at that new Mirialan woman?” One of them said to the other, his grin evident through his voice.

”She’s not exactly new, but yeah, I did” Another of them spoke, the same tone filtering their voice.

Teddy placed a hand on Echo’s shoulder. He knew that the conversation was probably driving him up the wall, but he tried to remind him that it wouldn’t serve them well to get into an all-out firefight right now. Echo nodded to him appreciatively, his action grounding him and focusing him back on the mission.

Teddy had been the most supportive while Kan had been gone. He knew that ignoring how worked up Echo was about it wouldn’t do any good, so he tried to comfort him in ways that he could. They weren’t particularly close prior, but Echo appreciated the sentiment nonetheless.

Rex gestured to go around them, and the clones moved out, slipping quietly around crates and ships until they found themselves opposite the records room, and the front door. It was really a pretty inconvenient place for it to be, for them. There didn’t seem to be any guards at the door, but they knew that there was most likely people inside. Rex told the rest of them to wait where they were, and he and echo darted towards the door.

Echo disengaged his cybernetic to twist back the hand attachment, and inserted his scomp into the port, quickly slicing through their encryption to open the door. To their surprise, there was nobody inside. Rex gestured for the rest of them to join them while echo scomped into the port on the inside of the room. He searched all around their system, which included prisoner details for both sides of the facility, but he couldn’t find Kan. There was no record that she had ever been here. He searched over the cells again, and once more, to make sure, but he couldn’t find her. He let out an exasperated huff.

“What is it Echo?” Teddy asked, his eyes darting between Echo and the door.

“She’s not listed under any of the occupied cells, but there’s a block of unnamed cells in the… left side of the prison” He relayed the information.

“Can you find out where?” Howzer questioned.

“One second” Echo continued searching, looking for their whereabouts. “Ok got it” He pulled his scomp from the port, “Let’s go”

Kan didn’t know how long she had been locked in this small cell. The days blurred together, and she was unsure where one ended and the next began. There was no real way to tell anyway, she couldn’t see outside to know the time of day, and the Empire didn’t exactly feed her regular meals.

Her body felt exceedingly weak, and her mind was beginning to feel the same. The officers at the prison had tried to get information out of her, about whatever organisation she was a part of, but she wouldn’t yield. She was tired. Tired of resisting, tired of feeling weak, and tired of thinking about how no one had come to get her.

She knew it wasn’t that easy, there was no way for them to know where she was, but it didn’t stop her thinking that perhaps they weren’t even looking for her. For all her resisting, not giving the Empire any of the information that they wanted, she wondered if the clones had any of the same loyalty to her. She had felt it before, but with her time spent locked away, it was harder to know.

Her thoughts often dwelled on Echo specifically. Why had he not come for her yet? She tried to rationalise, but she was being driven mad by the feeling of being in perpetuity; the sleepless nights, or maybe days, the passing of time not making sense anymore. Sometimes it felt like it wasn’t passing at all, like she was just going to be forever in limbo.

Kan heard a commotion outside in the corridor, and lifted her head to peer through the ray shielded arch. It sounded like a fight had broken out, and she frowned, but her heartrate picked up a little at the same time. Had someone finally come for her? She shifted and placed her feet on the floor, her hands resting against the edge of the bench she sat on. The noise of the fight drew closer, and she waited with bated breath as they approached her cell.

A guard was knocked to the floor, laid out on the floor outside the ray shield, and Kan’s heart leapt to her throat, though the next moment it plummeted straight down to her feet. Another guard threw themself down on top of the other and started punching the other, another two appearing to try and pull him off.

Kan sighed deeply, folding in on herself and holding her knees to her chest. She didn’t want to cry, but it was hard to stop herself.

They hadn’t come for her. Perhaps they never would.

She wasn’t there. Kan was still gone.

Echo couldn’t cope. He had kept quiet the entire journey back, but when they got back to base he had immediately taken himself back to the safety of Kan’s office. He didn’t know what to do with himself. He couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that Kan was most likely alone and afraid.

He tried not to blame himself, he really did, but it was getting harder not to. He didn’t really blame Rex, even if he had lashed out at him for it. Before he had truly dwelled on that fact, his feet were carrying him to the command room. When he opened the door, he found Rex in the position he had been before the mission, defeated and sat on a crate at the back of the room.

Echo called his name in a quiet voice, and Rex’s head snapped up.

“What?” He asked, rubbing a hand over his face. He was clearly tired.

Echo sat beside him, taking a deep breath before speaking, “I’m sorry”

“For what?”

“It wasn’t your fault” Echo said earnestly, turning to look at his brother, “No one is to blame but them Empire”

Rex stayed quiet.

“I shouldn’t have said what I did, I was just…” Echo couldn’t find the word.

”Upset? Frustrated? Angry?” Rex asked with a slight twinge of amusement.

Echo huffed a laugh, “Yeah”

The pair were quiet for a moment. There wasn’t anything either of them could say that would make the other feel better.

“I’m sorry too” Rex sighed.

“For what?” Echo frowned.

“That sh-” Rex stopped himself, “That Kan was taken, that she’s not here. I know how much you care for her, I can’t even imagine how you must be feeling”

Echo looked to his twitching hands. It made him slightly uncomfortable to have that observation made about him, but he knew that Rex meant well, that he was only trying to comfort him or just have a conversation, something they hadn’t really taken part in in weeks.

“What if we can’t find her?” Echo looked back up at Rex, who blew out a long breath at his broken expression.

“We’ll find her Echo, we will” Rex assured him.

“But how can we? There’s no way to know where she is, and what if they-” Echo gulped, “What if they hurt her, like- What if they… kill he-”

“No. Don’t think like that. We’re going to find her”

“But- Even so, I- We might never see her again” Echo could feel tears brimming in his eyes, “I- I never got to tell her-”

Rex placed his arm around him and pulled him into his side, “I know. I know brother”

technical devotion, part nineteen: safety

a/n: I remembered I have a taglist this time lmao so yay. also just fyi, there's gonna be seven more chapters (after this one), which is funny to me in and of itself because this fic was originally only supposed to be like 10 chapters in entirety but... I have no chill apparently

warnings: mentions of blood & injuries, traumatic weight loss? idk what to call that

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Echo’s day so far had been particularly monotonous. Every day had been for a while now.

He had skipped breakfast after another sleepless night, instead opting to stay in Kan’s office and monitor Imperial long range comms on the off chance he heard anything about rebels or prisons or anything else that they never talked about. After hours of tuning in and not finding anything, he dragged himself to the mess, and grabbed some caf before continuing on with his previous activity.

This had been his daily routine for a few weeks. He couldn’t bring himself to do much else.

When he walked past the command room on the way back to Kan’s office, he heard people speaking in hushed voices. He turned his ear to the door with a frown, but failed to hear what they were whispering about. He opened the door, and the two people hunched over the holotable shut their mouths when they saw him, looking very caught as they switched it off.

“What’s going on?” He asked, looking between Rex and Spider as they scrambled for something to say.

“Nothing” Rex said quickly, standing up straight, “What brings you here?”

Echo gave them a sceptical look, “I heard you two… whispering”

“Ah, right” Rex rubbed his neck awkwardly, not adding any further comments.

Spider gave him a look, “I think you should just tell him Rex”

“Tell me what?” Echo frowned, stepping into the room.

Rex sighed deeply, “Please don’t be angry when I tell you this, I just wanted to make sure our intel was correct before I got your hopes up”

Echo waited patiently for him to continue, trying to quell the irritation that was already bubbling up. Rex looked to Spider and nodded for him to leave the room. When the door closed behind him, Echo was growing impatient.

“What is it?”

Rex took a deep breath before speaking, “We know where Kan is”

A range of emotions washed over Echo. He was relieved, yes, also angry like Rex had predicted, but his worry was still taking over. Knowing where Kan was didn’t make her safe.

“How?” Echo asked.

“Senator Chuchi did some digging, one of the descriptions of the prisoners matched her perfectly, so we’re pretty certain”

“How long have you known?”

“Since… two rotations ago”

“And you didn’t tell me?” Echo crossed his arms, but Rex jumped in before it could escalate.

“Look, the plan was that Spider was going to go and get her, and she’d be back here before you knew anything about it. Like I said, I don’t want to get your ho-”

“Send me instead” Echo interrupted him, his voice firm as if it was a command.

“Echo” Rex said in a sigh, rubbing his hand over his face, “Spider was an ARF in the 41st elite corps, he’s got this”

“And I was an ARC in the 501st, I’m not seeing the relevance”

“It’s not about that. You know what I mean” Rex gave Echo a pointed look.

“Rex, please” Echo begged, his tone a little desperate, “Please send me instead”

“Echo, we… we’re pretty sure it’s her, but you need to be prepared for it not to be”

“I know, I know. I just-” He looked to his feet, “Please, I- I need to do this”

Rex didn’t want to give in, he really didn’t, but the pleading, broken hearted man in front of him was a hard one to disappoint, even when he wasn’t in this state.

“Fine” Rex conceded, “But I’m trusting you to be objective about this. I don’t want you ending up captured too”

Echo nodded, “Of course”

“Alright” Rex turned the holotable back on, revealing a map, “This is the place”

Echo drew his ship out of hyperspace, the blue streaks pulling back to reveal a planet that made it seem he hadn’t even pulled the lever. The surface was painted by swirling blues, punctuated by large white clouds, and for a moment it reminded him of Pabu.

A stern voice crackled through the comms, interrupting his thoughts and demanding clearance codes for landing. Echo obliged, transmitting the codes that Senator Chuchi had acquired. He waited with bated breath as they verified the authenticity of them, and his body relaxed when they let him know he was cleared for landing.

He brought his ship into the upper atmosphere, going over the plan in his head, trying to remain calm. He’d done things like this before, it would be fine. He was prepared for Kan not to be here, but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t scour the entire building until he was sure she wasn’t.

His ship touched down on the landing platform and he took a deep breath, opening up the door and adjusting the stormtrooper armour that he was wearing. He stepped out of the ship, his eyes scanning the platform for anyone taking note of him, of which there were only a few mechanics glancing over as they worked on other ships.

Echo walked slowly, calculated, trying not to look suspicious by rushing about. He followed the map that he'd burned into his brain, heading for the detention block of the base. He nodded to the troopers that were stood just down the hall from the door he needed to access. Ordinarily, an access card would be needed, but Echo was able to bypass that necessity by way of his scomp.

He kept glancing over his shoulder, making sure the stormtroopers were still faced away as he cracked through the door's encryption. The door zipped open, and Echo pulled out his scomp, quickly darting through the door and putting his cybernetic arm back into place.

The cells that lined the hall were only ray shielded, so he could see through and into them. He peered into every cell as he passed, his eyes narrowing in on the figures inside to identify the one he was looking for. He made it though a few corridors before he came across a cell that made him stop in his tracks.

The person inside was curled up on the bench that lined the back of the cell, their knees pressed to their chest and their head resting against the wall. Echo almost didn't recognise her. Her frame was a lot smaller than the last time he'd seen her, her skin clinging to her bones in a way that made Echo’s heart lurch.

Once he had recognised her, he immediately slammed his fist into the control panel to lift the ray shields, ripping off his helmet as he rushed inside.

“M'aira”

Echo fell to his knees in front of Kan’s rigid form, taking her face in his hands. Her eyes fluttered, but didn’t open fully, as if she couldn’t, or didn’t have the strength to.

“Who- What…?” She muttered, an edge of fear and uncertainty.

“It's Echo” He spoke gently, not wanting to frighten her. Her eyes opened a little more at that.

“Echo” She whispered, “You’re here”. She sounded relieved.

“I'm here” Echo confirmed, leaning his forehead against hers, enveloping her in his presence, his safety. “I'm going to get you out of here Cyar'ika. Can you stand?”

As he guided Kan's feet to the floor, Echo noticed a small trickle of dried blood down the side of her neck, and bruising around the tiny wound from which the blood had spilled. Echo decided to put it to the back of his mind, focusing on getting Kan out of here before he dwelled on the state she was in.

Kan’s knees crumbled beneath her as she tried to stand up, and she slumped back onto the bench.

“I’m sorry, I can’t-”

“It’s okay” Echo assured, a hand on her shoulder, “Can I pick you up?”

Kan chuckled at her own joke before she told it in a weak voice, “I don’t know, can you?”

Echo shook his head with a small disbelieving laugh escaping his lips, “Still got a sense of humour I see”

Kan shrugged a little, her eyes fluttering closed at the same time. Echo took that as his sign that it was time to go, and hooked an arm under her knees and across her back, lifting her far easier than he would have liked. She had certainly lost a lot of muscle mass, which explained why she was so weak. Once again, Echo tried not to think on it for now.

Echo promptly made it out of the cell, making his way back through the halls that he had used to find Kan. They didn't make it too far before being intercepted, but Echo wasn't going to let up until Kan was safe again. An Imperial officer was walking along the same corridor as them, and looked up from their datapad as they were about to pass by.

“What is going on?” The officer asked, utterly perplexed by seeing a stormtrooper carrying a barely conscious woman.

“Prisoner transfer, ma'am” Echo responded, his voice unwavering

The imperial frowned and gave Kan a look of what seemed to be disgust, “Why are you carrying her?”

“She doesn’t have the strength to walk, Ma'am” Echo answered her, though he was aware that this situation was certain to become more of an issue soon enough.

The officer gave him a sceptical look, “Show me”

Echo’s arms instinctively tightened a little, staring down at the Imperial through the visor of the stolen helmet.

“That's an order, trooper” She said sternly, her brow furrowing further.

“Just do it Echo” Kan whispered into his shoulder.

He grimaced under his helmet, nevertheless obliging and bending down to place Kan on the ground. She was wobbly on her feet and gripped onto Echo's arm for some stability, ending up just leaning on him to stay upright. Echo did his best not to touch her in a way that would give them away, only letting her use his body to hold herself up.

“Hm” The Imperial hummed, “Okay, pick her up. I shall escort you to your shuttle.

“That's really not necessary Ma'am” Echo countered, immediately taking Kan back in his arms.

“I'll decide what's necessary” The officer snapped back, and Echo couldn't help but wince and roll his eyes at once. He'd figure it out, he knew he would.

He followed the woman out onto the landing platform, then directed her towards his ship. She didn't say anything at first, and neither did Echo, in his mind it was all going according to plan. He was climbing the first steps into the ship when she finally spoke.

“What kind of ship is this?”

He didn't bother answering, instead pushing her back onto the platform and rushing aboard to close the door.

He placed Kan down on the bunk at the back, as gently as he could in a rush. He immediately went about getting the ship in the air, ignoring the blasterfire that was now being directed towards the ship.

He made his getaway, pushing the lever to send them to hyperspace and sitting back, abundantly relieved. He let out a long breath, rubbing his hands over his face to bring himself back to the new reality that Kan was safe. He looked back at her, his heart breaking just a little to see her sat up and looking down to her lap with a despondent expression.

She looked so different, a shell of her old, ever-cheerful self, and it was almost too much for Echo to cope with. He approached her slowly, making himself known but not trying to startle her too much, then knelt in front of her. Her eyes flicked up to his, and they looked empty, such a stark contrast to the eagerness, the life, he usually saw swimming in them.

“Oh Cyar'ika” He brought his hand up and gently stroked her face with his thumb, “What did they do to you?”

Kan didn’t respond, and looked down to her fiddling hands, feeling a little embarrassed of the state she was in.

“M'aira?”

She then turned and laid down in the bunk, facing away from him and staring out of the back window. Echo sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed and bringing his hand to her arm to gently rub it back and forth, reminding her that he was there, that she was safe. He could feel her relaxing more and more under his touch, and when it seemed that she had reached the point of sleeping, he took his hand away.

Kan reached out and grabbed his hand, “Don't leave”

Echo’s heart ached at how small she sounded.

“I’m not” He reassured her, squeezing her hand gently before taking it away again.

Echo stood up and went about noiselessly removing his armour, his eyes never leaving Kan as he stacked the pieces on the floor next to the bed. Once he was stripped down to his blacks, he laid down behind her. He could see how rigid she was, and continued to stroke her arm.

“You're safe, Cyar'ika, you can relax” He murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.

He once again felt her body ease under his hand, though this time she turned to look at him. Her eyes searched his for a moment, some unknown emotion fighting its way out to reach for him.

“Thank you for coming to get me”

Echo gave her a small smile as he brushed some hair from her face, “Of course M'aira, I'm just sorry it took so long”

Kan let her mouth form a small smile to mirror Echo's expression, just as a violent shiver wracked her body.

“Are you cold?” Echo asked immediately.

Kan nodded.

“Come here” Echo gave no room for argument, and pulled her body into his.

Kan relaxed immediately, the feel of Echo's body pressed against hers confirming that she was safe, that he was really here.

“You're always so warm Echo” She muttered into his chest, which brought a fond smile to his face.

He held her even closer, burying his face in her neck and taking in the scent that he had been missing for months. Kan did the same thing, taking in his presence in every way she could, gripping at his clothing with one hand, the other placed over his chest to ground herself to his heartbeat.

“I've missed you so much”

Echo's heart ached at the cracking of her voice, “I've missed you too Cyar'ika”

Kan lifted her head to look up at him again, “You keep saying that, Cyar'ika, it's Mando'a isn't it?”

“Oh” Echo blushed a little at getting caught, having been only half conscious of himself using it in the first place, “Yeah, it is”

“What does it mean?” Kan asked.

Echo cleared his throat, “It's like… sweetheart, or darling”

Kan let out a contented hum, her head coming to rest against his chest again. “I like it” She asserted, turning it over in her mouth again, “Hm. Sounds better when you say it”

Echo's chest filled with warmth, his heart feeling full, almost bursting at the seems as Kan fell asleep in his arms. This time, he'd make sure that's where she'd stay.

taglist: @darthnihila @cdblake1565 @bunny7567

me ? liking echo ? pfft where’d you get that from

Here is my first draft of TBB Echo for the Clones in Suits series! UwU precious boi deserves an all-out smile for everything that he is 🥰 <33 Tysm for waiting, hell week at work is over so I'm back on track for this series 🥳 :3

Outfit is subject to change on final output.

Taglist: @riinoaheartilly @mamuzzy @freesia-writes @amorfista @cloneloverrrrr @wolffegirlsunite @askwenjing @moonlightwarriorqueen @sunshinesdaydream @advisorsnips @nobody-expects-the-inquisitorius @fictionalmenjusthitdifferent @corona-one @wings-and-beskar @anxiouspineapple99 @flyiingsly @insertmeaningfulusername @jgvfhl @n0vqni @naganna418 @techs-goggles9902 @starrylothcat @and-loth-cat@doctordoombignaturals @lune-de-miel-au-paradis @stardusthuntress @n0vqni @fakegingerrights @greatshieldmaiden14 @echo-lover @yukikun336

*For a look at the finished portraits so far, see this post here UwU

**If you'd like to be added to the taglist, feel free to let me know in the comments and I'll add you. Thanks! 😘 <33