Bad Batch + Rex one shots

Echo: I want every part of you

⚠️Warning: mentions of self hatred/ body issues since it's Echo you know⚠️

Summary: Reader was a ex Jedi before order 66 and fell for Echo. She missed her opportunity to tell him and regrets it every day. Hiding out, the thing she did not expected to find on Ord Mantell was Echo, alive.

Keeping your head down was easy. Staying focused was another story entirely. As a former 'safe keeper' as they once were called was difficult. Especially when you saw innocent people being tossed and shoved around by the troopers you once called friends.

It was a hard pill to swallow at first. Seeing the men you worked so closely with for years, had gotten together with at the 79..turn on their generals so easily. Like it was nothing. It was like a switch had been flipped. And that's exactly what it was.

According to Rex. After he located you and told you everything it was a devastating blow. Not only had the clones had their humanity stripped from them, but they had also had their minds violated. It was so cruel and too horrible to wrap your head around the very notion. But you did.

Eventually you had to move on. Jumping from planet to planet seemed like the most logical option. Staying in one place for too long tended to draw unwanted attention.

The long stretches of silence were the worst parts. Most of the time your thoughts drifted to him.

Echo.

The ex arc trooper.

His face was always present in your mind. His warm brown eyes, the rough patches of his freshly shaven chin, his smile. You missed him too much it hurt.

Even if you were a Jedi..ex before. Ex now. And attachments were forbidden, you still harbored feelings for him. It was difficult not to. He made you smile, laugh, and just had a wonder about him. He and Fives always managed to make you laugh. But it was Echo that held your heart.

It helped too, that out on the battlefield you two worked well together. To the point where you were able to read each other with a simple glance. You always did have the best time on missions with him. He would shower you with story after story about battles he witnessed. You loved his enthusiasm. You had loved being around him. You had just loved him.

But you never got the chance to tell him. The Citadel was his last mission, during which he was killed. He saved so many that day, but he wasn't able to safe himself.

You were never the same after that. It was like you were a shell of your former self. You felt nearly hollowed. You pushed through it until it was too much and you abandoned the order not long after. It was a hard decision to make, but your mind wasn't in a good place.

Not long after, order 66 happened and you had to take on a new identity. You had no choice. To the Empire you were still alive. You needed to lay low. Your black long hair had to go. Replaced with a short blonde cut. And you needed a job. One that couldn't be tracked.

That's how you ended up on Ord Mantell, working for Cid. An old contact of yours said she'd hire you no questions asked. It was worth a shot. She wasn't that bad. She paid decent and gave you a room in the back. It wasn't much, but you didn't mind. Your regal days as a Jedi we're long over anyway.

~~~

Sweat dripped down your brow as you made your day back to Cid's parlor. You had no problem going off world for a mission, but you had hoped she would be more forthcoming with what certain missions entailed. Specifically if you needed to dress lighter for a task that involved stepping foot on a lava planet. It was times like this you were glad that you had cut your hair.
Sometimes you missed it, but today was not one of those times.