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imabeautifulbutterfly · 4 years ago

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It’s Over - Pt. 6 (Tech)

A/N: Hello lovelies,

Alright so today’s part is a two story episode in one. I won’t say much, you’ll just have to take a gander under the cut. I’ve had so much fun writing this Clone AU, thank you @firstofficerwiggles for putting this idea together.

I’m also including the links for the other It’s Over Parts. Enjoy my lovelies, the last part is so sweet.

It’s Over(Kix) | Pt. 2(Rex) | Pt. 3(Wolffe) | Pt. 4(Cody) | Pt. 5(Crosshair)

Warnings: Drinking, mentions of keeping tabs, mentions of amnesia, mentions of grief, can’t think of anymore, but as always, if I forget something, let me know.

Before I forget second story: Italics - Flashback

Feel free to drop some love, a comment and/or a reblog. It’s always appreciated. Thank you guys for showing so much love.

AO3 Link | Words: 4,145 | Previous -> Next

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TECH

Tech sat at the table watching his brothers dance on the floor, Crosshair and Oleander had left a while ago, Omega was dancing with Hunter and Kambe, Echo and Halcyon were lost in each other’s eyes, and Wrecker and Lurwa were laughing while they swayed with the music. Tech imagined what life would be like with a significant other, he knew he wasn’t like his other brothers, no one really gave him a second glance, no one wanted to get to know him better, and no one bothered to continue a conversation with him.

It never really bothered him during the war, after all there was always something that needed to be done, intel to be confirmed, plans to be prepared, Halcyon, Lurwa and Kambe kept telling him that he was the best of the Bad Batch, that he was the sweetest, but it still didn’t prevent them from falling in love with his brothers.

Tech eyed the whiskey in his hands, it was a realization that this was probably going to be his life after the war, to be left behind while his brothers all moved on with their life. There was one woman who had captured his attention, but he never really got a chance to even talk to her, it was all missed opportunities and barely spoken conversations. He could still remember seeing her the first time in the Jedi archives, she was assisting the head librarian. She wasn’t a Jedi or a Padawan, she was simply a civilian worker who helped in the library. He remembers her purple lekkus shifting slightly, as she turned to face him, her beautiful eyes capturing his heart, at that moment he forgot what he was going to say. He wanted to ask her out, he wanted to spend time with her, but before he could say anything, she was called away by General Kenobi who was looking for some help. She blushed at Tech’s stare, excused herself and left him standing at the desk, since that day, he had seen her here and there, but never actually getting a chance to have a conversation with her. When she saw him, she always gave a loop-sided smile and a quick wave. Who knows where she was? No doubt a braver clone had stepped up, and did what he failed to do.

Tech looked down at his glass, it was empty, he definitely was going to need more liquor if his mind was going to continue reeling at the realization of the loneliness that was going to be his future. Tech leans on the counter, most of the evening had been somewhat entertaining, seeing the Wolfpack play a song, watching a proposal, seeing how the various Jedi and clones were all mingling, excited about the end of the war.

“What can I get you?” General Kenobi came and asked Tech, Tech was shocked.

“General?”

“Obi-wan”

“With all due respect, sir, what are you doing behind the bar?”

Obi-wan shrugged, “I did it because we were cheering Jirli and Wolffe, and thought it would be nice to pour everyone their drinks, but somehow Yoda hid the bartender droid and now I’m stuck here, until my grandmaster decides to release me from this prison I created for myself” he chuckled at that, he knew Yoda was taking his good old time to get back to him with the droid.

“Ah, I see”

“So in the meantime, what can I get you?”

“Whiskey”

“Any preference?”

“Whatever is the strongest”

Obi-wan didn’t prod more, simply gave a simple nod and moved to grab Tech’s drink, he could see the younger clone was stressed, he could also feel his sadness radiating through the force. Obi-wan grabbed two glasses and walked over to Tech.

“Want to talk about it?”

Tech shook his head ‘no’, he didn’t want to, as much as maybe talking about what bothered him would help. He reached for the new glass.

“You sure, Tech? I’m a very good listener.”

Tech let out a sigh, as he turned to look at his brothers over his shoulder, Obi-wan followed his eyesight, and began to realize what the problem was; “you’re afraid you’re going to end up alone”.

Tech turned to look at Obi-wan, what? How could he know that?

“Sir …”

“Obi-wan or Kenobi if that makes it better”

“Kenobi, I don’t know what you are talking about”

“Tech, come on, I can see how you’re eyeing the couples dancing, it doesn’t take a genius such as yourself to figure it out.”

Tech let out a sigh, “it’s not so much that that's bothering me”.

“Then what is it?”

“Missed opportunities”

“Hmmm, you mean Lira?”

Tech looked from his glass to Obi-wan, “okay, seriously?”

Obi-wan couldn’t help but let out the chuckle, “I could tell something was up when you saw her in the archive room, not to mention, she kept asking me all kinds of questions about you.”

“She did?”

Obi-wan nodded, “she has quite the crush on you.”

“How… why … when did she say that?”

“She never did, but I can tell”

Tech’s hope that had begun to build dissipated just as quickly, “oh” was all he said.

Obi-wan couldn’t contain the laughter that came from his lips, “for a genius and for an elite commando, you aren’t very observant, are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“The fact that you would run into her whenever you were planet-side, how you just happened to run into her in the mess hall, in the hallways, or if you happen to be in the archives, didn’t you find it odd?” Obi-wan took a sip from his own whiskey.

“I …”

“She asked whoever she could to find out when you would be planet-side on Coruscant. She harassed me enough to find out if your ship had arrived on the planet. If you were still alive.”

“She …”

“Not to mention, she tried to find out as much as she could about you, but seeing as how you and your brothers didn’t really mix with the regs, she was left to wonder who was the man who captured her heart in a mere matter of seconds.”

Tech looked around the room, hoping more than anything she would be there.

“She’s not here” Obi-wan said

“Oh”

“She’s at the temple” he smirked, while he took another sip

“Oh!”

“Alone” he smiled more, while taking another sip

“OH!”

“You know it would take someone less than five minutes to hop on a speeder, head to the temple and walk into the archives, where she’s probably still organizing the archives.”

“Really?”

Obi-wan nodded as he finished his drink, “also helps that the code to enter the temple after hours is 63728, but you know, you didn’t hear that from me” Obi-wan winked, as he grabbed his now finished glass, and went back to put away the whiskey he and Tech had shared.

Tech finished his drink in one shot, he had a mission, a mission that requires nerves of durasteel, a final mission. He headed out of the gala like a man possessed, he let too many opportunities pass by, too many regrets, no more. He didn’t know whose speeder he grabbed, but whoever left their keys, he was eternally thankful to them. Obi-wan was right, it didn’t take him more than five minutes to get to the temple. Tech walked up to the temple entrance, punching in the code Kenobi had given him. His feet took over and guided him to where his heart belonged. He wasn’t going to let another opportunity slip away. Not again.

Tech stood in front of the door to the archives, somehow all the way over he completely forgot to practice what he was going to say. The last thing he wanted to do was an info dump. He took a moment, steadied his breath, closed his eyes, this was it. He was going to do this.

He opened the door to the archives, there was no one there, it was quiet. He walked further in, hoping that Obi-wan hadn’t just made a fool of him, that he wasn’t playing some sort of game. He never thought the General could be cruel or mean or that he would play such a hurtful game. However, the more he searched the more he noticed no one was there, in fact the archives looked as though everything had been shut down for the night. Tech let out a sigh, turning to exit the room, resolved that the General had indeed played some sort of game on him.

He was about to exit when he heard faint music coming from behind one of the archive stands, it was faint, almost like a dream, not quite there but there. His feet guided him to the soft sounds he heard, when he began to hear humming as well, as he got closer he saw a purple lekku sway from behind one of the stands. Years of practice and stealth missions taught Tech had to be silent when he needed to be. His footsteps were barely audible the closer he got to Lira, she was there amongst the archives, her radio playing from her cart. Tech watched as she danced with an imaginary partner, her eyes closed as she hummed along to the music.

Tech’s heart swelled at seeing her, seeing her softness, seeing how completely enraptured with the music she was, oblivious to anyone and everything. At one point she spun closer to Tech, he took a leap of faith, he swallowed his nervousness down, and stepped in, placing his hand on her waist, holding her hand with his, while her hand naturally found his shoulder. He swayed with her, spinning her in time with the music.

Feeling the added weight to her waist, the hand grasping hers, and the shoulder her hand clenched, Lira opened her eyes, she was startled to say the least. However, upon seeing Tech’s goggles and warm eyes, she couldn’t help but smile. She had been daydreaming she was at the gala dancing with Tech, only to have Tech manifest before her, maybe she wished too hard to the force.

Tech matched the smile she gave him, he reached over to her cart, turning the music up, “to properly dance, we need to hear the music, not just feel it.”

“I agree” Lira responded

As the music swelled, their hearts swelled knowing that this was a moment both had been dreaming of, to be this close to one another. Lira couldn’t resist resting her head on Tech’s chest as he pulled her in closer.

“This is nice” Tech finally said after dancing for half an hour in silence, the only thing breaking the silence was the music.

“Mmmm” Lira responded in agreement, she loved listening to his heartbeat, how his voice rumbled in his chest when he spoke, how his breath hitched when he pressed a soft kiss to her head.

“I guess there’s only one thing to discuss”

Lira pulled back to look Tech in the eyes, “what’s there to discuss?”, maybe he had heard about how she was basically keeping tabs on the Bad Batch, trying to determine when they would be planet-side. Would he find that a breach of protocol? Would he find it endearing? Would he be concerned she was a stalker?

“Where should I take you on our first date?” Tech smirked as he looked into her eyes, Lira’s mouth just pulled into a grin, “I wanted to ask you out the first time we met all those months ago, but I just never could muster up the courage to do it.”

Lira blushed at that, “I wanted to too, but I just never had the strength to do it.”

“Is that why you just kept tabs on me instead?”

Oh stars! He knew. She buried her face into his chest, trying to hide the embarrassment that was radiating off her from deep within, she just nodded against his chest. She couldn’t bear to look at him. Lira felt Tech’s laugh against her forehead.

“It’s okay” Lira pulled back to look at Tech, “I was sort of keeping tabs on you too”.

Now it was Lira’s time to laugh, “so first date?”

“Tomorrow?”

“Perfect” she stood on her toes as she placed a gentle kiss on Tech’s cheek, Tech pulled her in closer, as they continued dancing for the rest of the night.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GREGOR

Gregor watched from the garden of the gala as everyone laughed and joked, his time during the war was one of amnesia, stuck on a separatist planet, listening to the commands of a very small general, and helping a bunch of droids get back to the Republic with important information. He didn’t think he would have made it out of that separatist stronghold, but he had managed to sneak onto a ship, while the droids were busy with the explosion.

The damage he suffered presented differently compared to his brothers, he sometimes had a hard time trying to recognize reality or what was really dangerous. It took a lot out of him, being in the gala was a bit overwhelming too many voices, too many people, just too much of everything.

“Can’t stand the noise?” a voice behind him approached, Gregor turned to see a Senator from one of the neighbouring planets approach, she looked familiar to him, but the name slipped him entirely.

Gregor simply nodded in response to the question, he wasn’t sure if he opened his mouth, exactly what would come out.

“Me too, it’s overwhelming to say the least”, Gregor watched as she took the seat beside him, her eyes were strong, fierce, yet when she glanced towards him, he noticed they softened. Her features were striking, especially among the lights of Coruscant. Something in the back of his mind told him he knew her, but it was like a floating dust ball in the air, he could see it at times, but was unable to actually grab it.

“You don’t remember me, do you?” she asked, keeping her eyes focused on her feet.

Gregor simply shook his head ‘no’, but then he realized she hadn’t been watching him, “I’m sorry … uh no.”

“It’s okay,” she shrugged, “a lot has happened, especially to you.” She took a deep breath and looked up to the sky, Gregor followed her line of sight, watching the ships coming and going.

“I miss watching the stars” she said, “when I was kid back on my home planet, my father and I would lie in the field behind our house. We used to plan various trips, all the different planets we would see. We even planned a trip that would take us to the unexplored regions of space, to see what lay beyond the outer rim.”

“I don’t think there’s anything beyond the outer rim”

“There has to be something”

“Empty space”

“Oh come on, just imagine, what would there be? For me, I imagine, there’s a whole region of space that’s never had to learn about war. A planet where everyone gets along, there’s no crime, no politics, everyone treats each other as they wish to be treated. No one judges anyone. Now what about you, if you could make up your planet, what would it look like?”

Gregor took a moment to think about it, “water”

“You mean like Kamino?” she turned her head to look at him, a smile appearing on her striking features.

“No, not like Kamino, more like Naboo, but more oceans, rather than lakes. High mountains covered in snow. Low valleys filled with lush greens. Steady temperature throughout the planet. Quiet. Peaceful. Just me.”

“Sounds kind of lonely.”

Gregor shrugged, “it’s easier for me that way”.

“Oh” she said, looking back at the ground, Gregor turned to look at her, he could see she was saddened by that a little, he didn’t know why but his heart ached a little when he saw her sadness.

“You could visit” he offered, she turned to look into his eyes, a smile appearing.

“That would be nice, but only if you wanted me to”

Gregor nodded, “it’d be nice to have company that would understand why I was there by myself.”

Neither said anything for a while as they looked into each other’s eyes, Gregor didn’t know why, but his heart felt like it could take off and fly, as though all the struggles, the stress, the pain, everything he went through, was worth it, simply by looking in her eyes.

“I’m Gregor, by the way” he offered his hand.

“Nice to meet you, Gregor” she smiled, “I’m Cinra, Senator of Corellia” she took his hand in hers. Smiling at the comforting way his hand fit in hers, she began to remember the first time they had met.

“Captain Gregor, it’s a pleasure. Thank you for coming with me to these negotiations.”

“Our pleasure, Senator”

“Please call me, Cinra”

“Only if you call me Gregor” his smile smirked at her.

“Very well, Gregor. Tell me about your squad, Foxtrot, are they looking forward to some downtime.”

“Downtime?”

“Well let’s face it these negotiations are boring even for me, I can just imagine, they’ll be super boring for your team”

Gregor laughed at that, “don’t worry about us, Cinra. We’ll stay on our toes, for you”, he locked eyes with her. This wasn’t the first time Cinra worked with clones, but this was the first time a clone made her heart skip a beat.

It was that trip that made them take the first step into a relationship that was forbidden from happening, but neither cared, they knew what they had was special, a once in a lifetime time of relationship. She missed waking up to his scruffy face, his hair all over the place, as he held her close, afraid she would slip through his fingers, if he let her go even for a second. She missed his kisses, his hands caressing her face, his declarations of love, him surprising her in her office with flowers, and the necklace he gave her before his fateful mission.

Cinra turned her head away, wiping a tear, remembering the life they had before his unit went missing during the Battle of Sarrish. She began fiddling with the pendant that hung off her necklace, it was a silver pendant with the Foxtrot symbol, a promise of sorts.

Gregor turned to look at the pendant, “that’s beautiful” he motioned with his head to the pendant.

“Thank you, my friend gave it to me before he … disappeared” it was true to an extent that the Gregor from before, was not the same Gregor that was sitting next to her.

“May I?” Gregor asked, with his hand reaching towards the pendant, Cinra wasn’t sure if she should, maybe it would cause more harm than good.

“Umm…”

Gregor pulled his hand back, “I’m sorry, if it’s personal …”

“No!”she exclaimed, now that he had pulled back, she wanted to show him more than ever. She took a deep breath, and leaned in showing the pendant to Gregor.

Gregor took the pendant with his fingers, and leaned in to get a better look, “this is … I know this …”

Cinra’s breath hitched in her throat, maybe he’d remember, maybe he’d come back to her.

“This was the symbol for Foxtrot Squad, right? They were a bunch of elite commandos”

Cinra’s hope was dashed, he didn’t remember. Gregor rubbed his forehead, again it was like something from the back of his brain wanted to be pulled to the front.

“Captain, we need to get out!”

“Alright men, to the escape pods!”

“Captain, I can’t reach Spitter, he’s not answering his comms”

“Where was he last?”

“In his bunk, sir”

“You men get to the escape pods, I’ll go back for Spitter”

“Sir, let me come with you.”

“No, Buck, you get to the escape pod. If you survive, tell Cinra … tell her…”

“I know, sir!”

“Then get going!”

Gregor felt tears welling up, how could he forget her, how could he just forget his men. He looked to Cinra who was sitting beside him, her eyes were sad, she quickly looked away from him, she tucked away the pendant, it was causing more damage, it was a mistake, she should have kept her distance.

“I’ll let you enjoy the quiet, it was nice to meet you Gregor” Cinra got up, she was going to walk back into the Gala, keep her head held high, until she could exit and crash completely in the privacy of her own quarters. Her Gregor was gone, the joking, flirty, protective Gregor who would hold her all those nights, who protected her from a Separatist assassin, whose men trapped them in his quarters for the better part of a day until they admitted their feelings for each other. The man who held her, when she received reports upon reports of deaths, destruction, and the casualties of war. The man who sang to her when they didn’t have music, but he wanted to dance. Cinra kept wiping the tears that were falling as each memory of her Gregor came to the front of her mind, with each step she took further away from the Gregor sitting there, the more she realized he truly was gone.

“Cinra” Gregor stood from the bench, he remembered something, he remembered her. He may not have remembered everything before landing on Abafar, but he remembered her. He remembered making his first breakfast at her place one morning, only to have burned everything. Cinra, walking into the kitchen, wafting the smoke away, laughing as she came up beside him, leaving a kiss on his cheek, then spending the day teaching him how to cook.

Cinra stopped in her tracks as he called her name, it was the tone that caught her attention, it was the way he would say her name when they were alone. The way her Gregor would say her name, almost like a prayer, hoping it was always answered.

“I …” he began, she couldn’t help but turn to look at him, there was hope rising in her chest, she knew better than to allow that hope there. If it turned out he didn’t remember, if it turned out this was confirmation her Gregor was gone, then she really would just wallow in grief.

Gregor noticed how her eyes held hope there, how they looked as though they were pleading. He remembered how his hands carted through her hair, how she fell asleep one night, while they were watching holovids on his shoulder. How she tucked herself into his side, until there was no way to know where she began and he ended. How her breath fanned his neck.

“I …” he began, he took a deep breath, and walked closer to her, “I remember.”

Tears that had been threatening to truly fall, completely took over, Cinra lost her strength, her knees caved in beneath her, she didn’t have the strength to stand anymore. He came back. Her Gregor came back!

Gregor closed the distance, kneeling before her on the ground, pulling her into his chest, wrapping his arms around her. He remembered her. He would fight hard to keep those memories, to keep her there.

“Tell me you’re real, that I’m not imagining you” Gregor pleaded into her hair.

Cinra pulled back and looked into his eyes, she straightened her torso, enough so her hands could hold his cheeks, and pulled him close to her lips.

When Gregor’s lips met hers, it was the missing piece he had been missing, his arms pulled her in closer. She was real, she was here, she was warm, she wasn’t a hallucination.

She pulled back enough so her mouth could be beside his ear, “I’m real. I’m real” she kept repeating, her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer to her, she wasn’t going to let him get away again. Not again. Never again. He was going to be with her, she was going to help him remember, even if it meant she had to leave the Senate to do it. She wanted to be by his side.

“You’re real, you’re real” Gregor repeated into her ear, his breath fanning over her neck. Now that she was there in his arms, he remembered how her weight felt right, all the times they spent wrapped in each other’s arms, all the times they laughed and cried together, he remembered how right it felt. How she was so right for him.

“I’m never letting you go, Gregor. Never” she vowed to him, she didn’t care what anyone thought, she would never let him go.

“I’m never forgetting you again. Never” he vowed to her, he would fight any notion in his mind, he would fight to keep his reality, however that meant.

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