The Clone Wars One Shots

Truth or Dare

"So..." you drawled, gazing at the ground. Not that you could see the ground. The tiny storage room you had been locked in was too dark to distinguish wall from door.

"So," Echo, the second victim of Wrecker's closet toss, repeated.

You let out a long, harsh exhale, clicking your tongue. "This is dumb."

"Remarkably so."

"I still can't wrap my head around the fact that you agreed to this," you admitted. "I mean, me I get, but you?"

Echo raised an eyebrow. "What about me?"

"You just...don't strike me as the truth or dare type," you said with a shrug.

Echo shrugged back, though all you could see was a faint silhouette. "Yeah, well, I've gotta honor my roots somehow, right?"

"That's nice," you said with a small smile. "I'm sure the guys would be proud of you for trying so hard."

"Thank you. So... is there anything in particular you wanted to do, or talk about? We still have..." he checked the time on his datapad. "Ten minutes left in here."

"That's assuming Tech's timing," you pointed out. "Not Wrecker or Crosshair."

Echo blinked at you in confusion. "Wrecker I get, but why Crosshair?"

"Two reasons," you began, holding up two fingers. "One, he would keep us in here for longer just to annoy us, and two, he ships us."

Echo cocked an eyebrow. "He does?"

"Are you really surprised?"

"Guess not." Echo chuckled at the thought. "I suppose Hunter's onboard, too?"

"Given that this was his dare, I'd say so."

"We gonna get them back?"

"Oh, for sure." You blew a bubble with your gum - a neat trick Crosshair had taught you - then popped it. "Once we get out of here, that is."

"Obviously."

"So..." you drawled, tapping you foot awkwardly. The small space was starting to get uncomfortable. "What else did you do with your old squad?"

Echo shrugged. "That depends. Domino Squad, or the 501st?"

"Either or."

"Well, with Domino Squad, all we ever really did was argue. The only one who kept us from tearing each other apart was a maintenance clone named Ninety Nine." Echo shifted in place and ran a hand over his bald head, smiling fondly at the mention of Ninety Nine. "Nice guy. Brave. You'd like him."

"I met him once. Not long after I met the guys." You smiled softly at the fond memory. Ninety Nine had been one of the kindest people you knew, and he had died bravely defending his family - something he had always seen as honorable. "Made me feel welcomed right away."

"That's Ninety Nine for you," Echo agreed, dropping his head. "Always knew what to say. He was the only one who could ever get through to Hevy, the Crosshair of our squad."

"Makes sense. He was the only one that Crosshair never got snippy with, either."

Echo did a double take at the revelation, shocked. "Wait, that's possible?"

You shrugged. "Apparently."

"Huh. Never would've guessed."

"Trust me, I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't been there." You blew another bubble. "Who else was in your squad? If you had a Crosshair, you must have had the rest of the Batch too, right?"

"Actually, yeah. I'd say Droidbait was a Wrecker - not strength-wise. He was just accident prone. Fives was definitely a Hunter. Natural leader, and a real survivor." He paused, then glanced up at you with a smile."Cutup was a lot like you, actually."

You raised an eyebrow. "I hope that's a good thing."

Echo snickered. "Don't worry, it is. He faced every challenge with a smile, and could make jokes even when everything else was falling to ruin. Always knew how to cheer us up."

"Aww. That's sweet." You grinned, giving him a light punch on the shoulder. "And that would make you the Tech."

He nodded. "Precisely."

"Unsurprising," you said with a chuckle. "No wonder you guys get along so well.

You shifted to sit across from Echo, resting with your feet touching his. You leaned back against the door, resting your head on the cool metal. Echo nudged your foot with his own, and you returned the gesture. After snickering, he repeated the action, and a nudge war began. You had just gotten the upper hand- er, foot, when suddenly-

"Time's up," a voice said from outside. Before you could react, the door opened, and you fell backwards, hitting your head on the ground.

"Ow!" you yelped as a bolt of pain shot through your skull. You winced, squeezing your eyes shut, then glared up at Crosshair. "What the hell?"

"Oops," the sniper drawled, a smug smirk on his face.

"You know, there's a shit ton of phytoplankton outside pumping oxygen for you." You sat up with a groan, rubbing the back of your head as you scowled at Crosshair. "I think you owe them an apology."

"Damn," Crosshair replied, appearing unfazed. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

"You're never gonna wake up again if you don't shut the kriff up," you grumbled, swiping at Crosshair. He calmly stepped back to avoid the blow.

Echo stood up and approached you, reaching a hand down to help you to your feet. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," you snapped, clutching your head with one hand as you set the other in Echo's. He hauled you to your feet, and you immediately stalked off towards the cockpit. "Where's the damn ice packs?"

As you sauntered off in search of an ice pack, grumbling curses under your breath, the others turned to Echo expectantly.

"So... what happened?" Hunter asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

Wrecker grinned at his brother, looking remarkably similar to a toddler in a toy store. "Did you guys kiiiissssss?"

"No, Wrecker," the cyborg replied blandly, taking a seat next to Tech.

"Aww, why not?"

"Because we're friends," Echo grumbled, sending a glare Wrecker's way. "I'm not gonna kiss my best friend just so that you can win your stupid bet."

Wrecker and Hunter both sat up a little straighter at the accusation, exchanging a worried glance.

"Wait, who told you about that?" the Sergeant of the squad asked, swallowing nervously.

"No one," Echo replied with a casual shrug. "Didn't need to. You make it pretty obvious."

Wrecker stared at him blankly for a moment. "Tech."

Echo nodded once in confirmation. "Tech."

"Tech," Hunter repeated with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Crosshair just laughed. Tech looked confused.