Chapter Text
This was definitely a very rare case for Dante. He usually would have clones that required his specialties shipped to Kamino where he is typically stationed. The flight to Anaxis was very calm compared to the chaos on the planet when the gunship lands on the rocky planet.
“AZ, have you studied the report that I asked you to?” Dante asked the medical droid as he hovered next to him. The ship jerked as it finally landed, the bodies of clones shifting their stances on the ship to prevent themselves from falling over. The plastoid shoulder of one of them knocked lightly against Dante’s. Dante paid no attention to it, knowing that most of the clones had done a double-take when they first saw him. His armor was not painted beside the red medical logo on his shoulder. Dante never bothered to paint it. Plus, he was about five inches shorter than the average clone trooper.
“Yes, I have.” AZ’s robotic voice answered the human, “I believe that we are to meet with them as soon as possible.”
“That’s the plan,” Dante mumbled to himself. The doors to the gunship opened and everyone inside piled out, the sound of heavy boots hitting the pavement. Dante was surprised at who was there to greet him.
“Captain Rex. This must be a very special case if you are personally involved.” Dante hummed lightly, walking over to the blonde clone, both of them reaching out and grabbing each other’s arm in greeting. Rex had decided to have his bucket resting on his left hip. Rex’s eyes broke contact with Dante’s through his helmet.
“I guess so.” He shrugged in response, letting go of Dante and moving to lead him and AZ to the temporary medical housing. Rex ran over a verbal report with him as they walked. Most of it was stuff Dante already knew having gone over the report that was sent to him multiple times. Dante watched the clone captain’s body language as he spoke. He could tell that whoever this clone was, Rex was very fond of him. Must have been an older or higher-ranking clone, then.
The door to the temporary medical building swished open and Dante and Rex stepped into the brightly lit area. Rex led the two of them to a blocked-off section in the back of the medical ward. On the way there, Dante glanced over the clone troopers laying in beds or floating in bacta tanks. It was fairly obvious that the clones were getting hit hard on this planet. Spotting Kix, Dante gave him a small wave before he slipped past the curtain to meet the trooper that had him here on the planet in the first place.
The report did very little to prepare him for the sight he was greeted with. This clone was a mess and a half. Honestly, he barely looked like a clone besides the recognizable facial structure. He was also very much awake, sitting up in the bed. Dante was quick to pull off his bucket, sitting it on the counter that was provided in the small space.
“Hey, trooper. You’ve got a name?” Dante asked him easily, as he did with any clone patient he first meets, moving over to his bedside. The clone’s pale brown eyes narrowed, quickly studying Dante’s facial features. AZ hovered past the small curtain, moving towards the computer monitors that seemed to be shut down. The clone’s eyes quickly darted toward the droid, but then back over to Dante. He was surprised when he saw that Dante did not have the same facial structure as a clone. He had brown wavy hair in a similar texture, it cut nicely with a sharp undercut and wild curls at the top. His eyes were blue and he had some scruff on his jaw like he hasn't shaved in a few days. If someone had never seen a clone before and saw Dante in the clone armor he was wearing, they could easily assume he was a clone. But from a clone's perspective, it was obvious he was a natural born.
“Echo” He replied, still studying the man that Rex had brought to him, “You’re not a clone.”
“You are right. My name is Dante and I will be your doctor for a bit. I specialize in medical prosthetics for clones,” Dante explained lightly as he gently shooed AZ away from the computer, signaling for him to stand down and wait for a moment. Dante started to boot up the computers, laying his personal tablet down with the other technology. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Echo looking at Rex giving him a silent question. Dante mentally patted himself on the back for being right about Echo being close to Rex.
“Dante is one of our best. You are in excellent hands.” Rex conceded with the concerned trooper giving him a small smile. The complement gave Dante a small smile. Rex’s words seemed to calm Echo’s worries and the worry on his face melted away a bit.
“Thank you, Captain. I think I have everything under control. Your trooper will be ready for battle before you know it.” Dante smiled, turning to Rex. He spotted some hesitation in him, “Unless you would like to stay?”
“No. I have a lot of things that still need to be done, but thank you.” Rex declined lightly, moving to step towards the curtain.
“Alright. Well if you see General Skywalker, let him know that my offer still stands to let me get a look at his arm.”
That made the good Captain chuckle lightly, “Right”
The curtain slowly shifted back into place as Rex stepped out of the little privacy area. Dante started pulling up programs on the computer, setting everything up for him to properly do his work. Echo quietly watched him as he did so.
“I want to let you know that this might take a bit, considering the situation.” Dante explained, “That being said, I do not plan to run any unnecessary tests or even attempt to mess with what is going on in your brain. I am here to heal you and get you back on your feet. I will not be treating you like a test subject by any means. If you have any questions, do not be afraid to ask them.”
Echo blinked a few times, staying fairly quiet as he watched the doctor work. He seemed to be slowly relaxing as he processed what Dante was saying. Dante stepped away from the computer, moving back over to Echo’s bedside. He hit a small button on the side of the bed, laying Echo down on his back.
“I would like to do a high-level scan so I know exactly what I am working with, and then connect you to a monitor so I can keep an eye on your vitals as we work. Is that okay?” Dante inquired, watching Echo to note any hesitations. Echo made a small nod, his eyes darting between Dante and the machines looking a little nervous, “That’s fine.”
Dante made a small hum once he had Echo laying flat on his back. He pulled down a small rod that was handed by the computers, lining it up over Echo’s torso. Dante moved back over to the computer.
“You shouldn’t be able to feel anything.” Dante consoled. The blue lights on the rod lit up. The rays slowly ran over Echo from toe to head. Dante watched as Echo watched the machine do its work, his face etched with worry. Dante didn’t try to soothe the trooper any more than he already has, the poor thing had probably already been through enough. There wasn't much more Dante could do. When the scan was complete, Dante pulled the small rod back into its place, studying the computer as the data rolled in, “You can sit back up if you wish.”
Dante listened to the small sound of the motor in the bed, pushing Echo back up into a sitting position. His eyes scanned the data as he made a small hum to himself.
“What’s the verdict, Doc?” Echo asked after a long pause as he watched Dante. Dante looked up from the computer, glancing over at the clone laying in the bed.
“Well, to be completely honest. This is the most complicated tech I have ever dealt with.” Dante explained, moving back over to Echo, “But we shall see what I can and can’t do. I don’t mind the challenge every now and then.”
“Tell me if you can feel this,” Dante said lightly, as he tapped his fingers onto Echo’s left ankle. Echo’s face scrunched a little in concentration, “I cannot feel you touching me, no.”
Dante made a small nod and reached over doing the same thing to Echo’s right leg. Echo shook his head, “Nothing.”
“Damn. They seriously just put fucking droid legs on you.” Dante muttered under his breath, earning a shocked look from Echo. The clone was surprised at the doctor’s language. Dante moved over to Echo’s left arm. He touched an area right above the elbow, “Can you feel this?”
“I think so…” Echo said slowly. Dante moved further down touching the end of his scomp link to see if he would get a reaction from him. Echo’s eyes widened a little in surprise, “ I think I can feel that too.”
“Good to know.” Dante hummed, moving away and back over to the computer. He grabbed his personal holo pad and started to type away on it. The two of them fell into a small, comfortable silence as Dante came up with a plan. Eventually, Dante put his tablet down.
“Alright, so here’s the plan. A lot of what you’ve got on you is not necessary anymore. Unless you plan to go back into a stasis chamber.” Dante started. Echo made a small nod, listening to the doctor.
“After that, I am going to get you new proper legs and then we can go from there,” Dante informed, getting up. He took off his black gloves and replaced them with latex ones. He moved to grab a few wires from the computer sticking little sticky pads on the end of them. He stood next to Echo, “These will monitor your vitals.”
Echo made a small nod and Dante reached over putting the sensors on his chest. They stuck easily to the skin and the monitors instantly started to beep showing Echo’s vitals on a small screen. Dante reached over and turned the monitor screen so Echo could see it. Echo made a small smile appreciating that Dante was so transparent with him.
“Your body temperature is still very low.” Dante hummed lightly as he read the screen, “Might still be a lingering side effect from the stasis chamber. AZ, can you go and fetch me some warm thermal blankets?”
“Right away.” The droid chimed and quickly scooted out of the curtained-off space. Dante brought his attention back to the clone laying in the bed. He grabbed a few tools.
“From what I can tell from the scan, everything from your mid-thighs up is mostly intact. Your hips are metal as well as parts of your spine, but that's under the skin. You are honestly lucky.” Dante grabbed a chair and settled down in the seat with his tools. He started to slowly work on getting the extra implants off of the clone trooper. Echo stayed silent the entire time, watching Dante. His eyes curiously watched Dante as he worked.
Dante started with the wiring on his chest, cleaning him up. He left the implants on, the actual metal in his chest having to stay in or it would cause more problems. Dante moved to do the same for his left arm, removing all the extras on it besides the metal implants that were embedded into his skin. By that time, AZ had returned with the blankets. Dante laid one over Echo’s torso, hoping to get his body temperature up a bit more to a healthy temperature.
“AZ, can you start making my latest model of legs for me? The ones with temperature and touch sensors on them. Keep in mind that I will probably have to modify them. ” Dante asked. AZ responded right away, moving to a far section of the room to start his work. Dante shifted in his seat, getting started with the contraptions that wrapped Echo’s hips.
“So tell me. What’s your story? Most people don’t like working for clones.” Echo asked after a long moment. Dante blinked, pausing for a second at his work but then continued.
“I was born on Coruscant. In some of the very, very lower levels. Crime down there was your way of surviving.” Dante started, “At a young age, I was sentenced to prison for a crime that adults would get the death sentence for. But since I was a child, the court decided it was best if I was sent in there for life. Not too long after I was sentenced, there was an accident in the gym. Another prisoner dropped a very large weight on my foot, causing me to lose the foot. So, after that, I spent a lot of time in the medical ward. I think the medics in the prison pitied me and took me under their wings teaching me what they knew. I ended up building my own prosthetic for my foot, and I started to treat the other prisoners in the prison. When the clone wars began, the Kaminoans were looking for medics that were cheap and I ended up fitting their requirements. So the Republic made an exception to my sentence under the condition that I worked for the Kaminoans.”
“Do you do all of this against your will?” Echo asked after a long pause.
“Not really?” Dante thought out loud, “I enjoy being around you clones and I have become pretty close with a few of you. Besides, it beats spending the rest of my life in a prison.”
Echo went silent again, still quietly watching him. Dante got the front panel of Echo’s hip plate off. He dumped it on a tray where he'd been leaving all the other bits and pieces he'd gotten off of the clone. Underneath all the robotic junk, Dante finally found skin. It was pleasing to know he was still fully intact, even though the skin on his thighs and parts of his hips were heavily scarred. Dante lightly ran his hand over the scarred skin of Echo’s thigh. The skin was in fairly bad condition. He scooted the chair back and started to search through the cabinets.
The clone was honestly surprised, looking down at himself. He figured he would be in a much worse condition, but there is a small feeling of hope lighting up in his chest that he could potentially feel normal again. Dante returned to his seat with a small bottle full of a white cream. It looked very similar to bacta, but not exactly that. Dante put some of the cream on his hand, rubbing it onto the scarred skin on his hips and thighs.
“I’m going to leave you this for your scars. They are nowhere near what I would prefer them to be. Your skin is still very frail and dry, but it will get better.” Dante explained, setting the small bottle on the little table next to Echo’s bed. He pulled the blanket that was already laying on Echo’s torso down a little to cover him for modest purposes. The hem of the blanket rested just above where the skin melted into metal.
“Now here comes the fun part.” Dante smiled tapping one of his tools on Echo’s mechanical legs. He started with Echo’s left leg, slowly disconnecting it from the body. Echo’s body froze, his breathing becoming a bit more ragged. The heartbeat on the monitor increased drastically.
“Bucket.” Echo barely gasped out, his left hand gripping the side of the bed. Dante dropped what he was doing and moved at lightning speed, grabbing a puke bucket and moving it in place in just enough time. Echo coughed, his stomach emptying what little was in it into the bucket that Dante had provided. Dante was patient with him, letting Echo’s body calm down a little at the shock. When Dante was sure, Echo had recovered enough, he pulled away, calling for AZ to take the soiled bucket from him.
“Sorry.” Echo groaned, looking very sheepish. Dante stepped away, got Echo some water, and handed it to him. Dante gave him a soft smile, "It's okay. I did the same thing."
Echo still looked a bit guilty but took the water, taking small sips from the bottle. Dante moved away, double-checking Echo’s vitals, watching them for a long moment.
"Are you good to continue?" Dante asked once he was satisfied with what he was seeing on the monitor. Echo hesitantly nodded. Satisfied, Dante went back to his work, "I would advise you don't watch as intensely. Would you like a distraction?"
"No. No. I'm okay. Please just get this shit off of me." Echo said after a moment, still quietly sipping on the water. Dante gave him a small smile, lightly squeezing his thigh.
Dante returned to his work getting the other leg off, being more careful, and watching his vitals a bit more. Once he cleared them out of the way he worked on cleaning up the metal ports that the new legs would attach to. His tool lightly tapped a small metal bump in the middle, making Echo jump, hissing deeply in pain. Dante paused, looking up at Echo's face, "Did that hurt?"
Echo made a small nod and Dante made a small 'huh' in response. He moved away from the bed and back over to the computer, looking at the scans again.
"My apologies. I must have touched the metal bone. I didn't think it would be exposed." Dante hummed, lightly rubbing his scruffy chin. He moved back over to the bed, picking up the tools again, "Roll over, let's clean up your back and then we can fit on your new legs."
Echo did what was requested of him, slowly rolling over onto his stomach and lowering the bed down again. Dante moved the blanket doing his best to make sure Echo was still comfortable. Instead of going from the top to the bottom as Dante had done with Echo’s front, this time Dante moved from his bottom to Echo's neck removing all the unnecessary technology and metal from the clone. Once he finished removing everything that he could, Dante lightly tapped the back of Echo’s covered thigh.
“Alright, that’s about everything. You can flip onto your back if you want.” Dante moved away towards the legs AZ had finished building. Behind him, Dante could hear the sounds of Echo moving to flip back over onto his back. The clone made a small grunt as he moved. Dante quietly thanked the droid and instructed him to go and help the other clones in the medical bay. Dante picked up the two legs, moving them over to the bed, laying them where the old legs had been.
“These will be lighter than the ones you were originally given,” Dante explained, “probably won't feel like it at first.”
Echo nodded lightly, shifting the blanket on his lap, “Are you going to do anything with my arm?”
Dante paused, “Not right now. I want to study your scans more before I attempt to make a prosthetic for your arm. There are a lot of variables that tie into it. One, your scomp link is heavily connected to the processors that have been implanted in your brain. Two, I want to leave it up to you if you want to have an arm where I can hide your scomp link, or if you want to have no hand and just keep your arm as it is now.”
Echo blinked, falling into a deep thought over Dante’s words. Dante silently got to work, modifying the legs that AZ made, making sure they would fit onto Echo’s metallic nubs. Once he was satisfied with his work, Dante looked up pulling Echo from his deep train of thought.
“Let me know if you feel any pain or discomfort.” Dante soothed the clone. He waited for Echo’s nod before he got to work attaching the prosthetics to him. Dante worked quickly and quietly. Once he was done connecting everything and fully setting them in place, Dante reached out lightly touching one of the legs looking for his reaction. Echo jumped in his spot, hissing softly in pain.
“Too sensitive?” Dante asked and watched Echo nod. Dante reached up, opening a small panel that was above the lead. He grabbed a tool, adjusting some of the wires and bolts inside. After a moment Dante looked up, touching his leg again, “Better?”
“Better.” Echo breathed.
“Hey Echo. Wrecker thought it would have been-” Tech stopped dead in his spot holding a small tray of food, the curtain hitting the clone’s back, “Dante. I didn’t expect you to be here.”
Dante let out a heavy sigh. If one of the members of the Bad Batch appears, the others are not far behind. Now, Dante was on a timer to get Echo all wrapped up and finished before their little space was full of chaotic clones.
“Tech. I swear if you tell the others. I am very busy.” Dante sighed, only glancing up slightly from his work. He moved over to Echo’s other leg to adjust the sensitivity.
Tech just gave Dante a small smile, “You know we would never distract you from your work.”
“Yeah, and you guys don’t cause trouble every time you show up at Kamino just to see me either.” Dante just made a small snort, rolling his eyes.
“Crosshair is the only one who does that.” Tech corrected. He moved closer, sitting down the small tray of food on a clean area that was in easy access for Echo. Dante paused his work looking up at Tech with a raised eyebrow. Not catching the silent social queue from the medic, Tech moved over to the computer to read the scans that Dante left open.
“Hey, Hey. No. No. Doctor, patient privacy. You know this.” Dante jumped up, shooing the intelligent clone away from the technology. Tech barely looked sheepish, vocalizing his objection, “I was the one who created the original report.”
"Yes, but that scan shows a lot more intel than your report." Dante objected, still pushing Tech towards the exit, "Now. I am very busy. So please leave me alone. I will come and find you when I have finished my work."
Dante finished shoving the tall man out of his workspace and closed the curtain in his face.
"Thanks for the food!" Echo called over Dante's shoulder. Dante made a small laugh moving back to his work, "I am surprised they still show interest in you. They tend to not like other clones."
Echo made a small chuckle, reaching over to the tray to grab a small ration bar, "So I've noticed. Kix told me all about how Wrecker and Crosshair were picking fights with him and Jesse."
Dante made a small snort, opening the panel and adjusting the sensitivity on Echo’s arm, "Yeah, that sounds like them."
"How do you know them?" Echo asked.
"They like to cause food fights in the mess on Kamino. It turns very violent pretty quickly and they all would end up in the medical wing by the end of it." Dante hummed some, watching Echo for any signs of discomfort, "Think they like me purely because I am not a clone nor Kamanoian at first."
Echo made a small hum in response, taking a small bite from the ration bar. Dante glanced up.
"Eat slowly. Your stomach is not used to food anymore." Dante warned, "I also have a fear that it's damaged enough that you might need a new stomach."
Echo gave Dante a confused look, "A new stomach? How would you get that?"
"You can clone organs fairly easily without a live host." Dante explained, "But right now, I can only do that procedure on Kamino. So, I am hoping with just a little bit of TLC, your stomach will recover normally."
Dante finished up his work on the prosthetics, closing up the small panels, "How are you feeling?"
"A lot better," Echo admitted. Dante quietly watches Echo slowly move the parts of his new prosthetics. Very satisfied with himself, Dante moved to clean up his workspace. He called for AZ to bring in a fresh pair of blacks for Echo.
"Would you like to try standing up and walking?" Dante asked, clearing space for him. Echo surprised him, quietly and effectively pulling himself out of the bed to stand up. Dante stepped over, putting a hand on his shoulder even though it looked like Echo barely needed it. He was adjusting very quickly.
"Are you an ARC?" Dante asked, watching him. At the same time, AZ came in with the blacks he requested, handing them over to Echo so he could finally get dressed.
"I was." Echo sighed, using Dante's shoulder as support to get the bottom half of his blacks over his new prosthetics.
"That explains why you're able to adapt so fast then." Dante smiled lightly, "And probably why you survived so long."
"DANTE!"
Dante could hear him before he felt Wrecker's beefy arms wrap around his stomach and he was being lifted off the ground. Ah, the cavalry has arrived.
"Ah, good to see you Wrecker." Dante gasped as he squirmed in the giant man's hold. Hunter was fairly quick to move in to get the big man to drop the medic. The rest of Clone Force 99 piled themselves into the small space. Tech moved over to help Echo continue to put on his blacks.
"He's already looking better," Crosshair grumbled as he sat himself up in a clean space on the counter. Dante gave him a small smile as the other boys seemed to agree.
"So can he be medically discharged?" Wrecker asked Dante, reaching over to help himself to Echo's leftovers.
"Well, there's not much for me to do for him today." Dante sighed, sitting himself down on the chair after he scooted it over to the computer, "But I would like him to check back with me in a rotation."
"Good! Let's go, Echo!" Wrecker grabbed Echo, pulling him out of the small space. Tech was quick to follow him, already starting to talk about how he wanted to test something that involved the computer.
"Please watch him while he's eating. I'm not that confident with his stomach just yet." Dante sighed at Hunter who gave him a small nod and a salute following the three clones that already left.
Then it was just Dante and Crosshair.
Dante let out a small sigh, looking over at the tall clone that had already helped himself to Dante's tablet, pulling up the small games that were downloaded on it. This was a fairly common thing when Dante and the Bad Batch were on the same planet. Once Crosshair had found out where Dante had currently holed himself up, he wouldn't be far out of reach.
Crosshair was like a stray tooka. Once he decided he liked you, he would follow you around and just exist with you in your space. Just happy and content with being close, but not too close. Give him too much attention, he would bristle under the pressure. Sometimes he would demand attention, but always gave you plenty of space. This had been a thing that has lasted long enough that Dante barely questioned it.
"You all seem to like him," Dante observed after a moment.
Crosshair looked up from the holo pad, "I guess. Tech had a theory that his mind is still with the separatists."
"Do you think that?" Dante asked and was only given a shrug in response. Crosshair looked back down at the holo pad, wanting to end all conversations. He's had enough talking and noises from the rest of his brothers already.
Taking the hint, Dante settled into his chair and started to write up his report on what he did for Echo. The room was silent besides the sounds of fingers lightly tapping buttons. They stayed like this for a long time until they both stopped what they were doing when they both heard Kix enter their small bubble of solitude.
"Uh, Why is he here?" Kix questioned, pointing at Crosshair with a raised eyebrow. Crosshair just stared at Kix, rolling his toothpick between his teeth.
"Don't mind him. He likes to follow me around like he's got the biggest crush on me." Dante teased lightly, one of his hands reaching out and jabbing Crosshair in the boot with his fingers. Crosshair's sharp eyes darted to Dante, giving him a silent warning before looking back at Kix.
"Right…" Kix still seemed hesitant, slowly moving towards the computer, eyeing up the sharpshooter, "So, how did it go with Echo?"
"Honestly, it went fairly well." Dante pointed at the screen, pulling up the results of the scan. Kix bent down some, looking over Dante's shoulder at the computer screen.
"The stomach looks really bad," Kix observed with his eyes glued to the screen.
"Yeah. I'm going to ask AZ about seeing if we can get a new stomach for him on Kamino. The one he has now will probably give out pretty quickly unless he actually follows our orders." Dante explained, leaning back in the chair. Kix made a small grunt of approval as both medics still had their eyes on the screen, focused on the data.
"There is also one other thing that I want you to look at. I want to delete it so the Kaminoans won't see this and try to kill him." Dante started to explain, scrolling through the data that showed the detail of what was happening in Echo's brain. Kix sucked a small breath in, shifting behind Dante to look at Crosshair, "I think it might be best if you leave for this."
"I'm not going anywhere." Crosshair hissed at the clone medic. Dante instantly reached up, shoving his fingers under Crosshair's chest plate, sticking them into the soft flesh of his ribs. Crosshair made a small yelp as he jumped, moving in a flash to pull the offensive fingers away, making Dante snicker.
"What did you just do?" Kix asked.
"Fett's greatest weakness." Dante explained with a giggle, "All clones are ticklish in the same spot. Here watch."
Dante moved quickly, doing the same thing to Kix, who jumped, making a small laugh and he moved back out of Dante's reach, chuckling, "Well, that's good to know."
Dante laughed lightly as well and then let out a small sigh pointing to Crosshair, "Also, it's fine if he's here. He already knows a bit about the chips."
Kix tilted his head, still giving Dante a mix of a questioning and concerned look. Dante didn't try to soothe his concerns anymore, turning back to the screens.
"Echo’s chip. It's completely dead. Like the programming in it has been wiped or shut down." Dante explained, "It's almost safe to assume he will act like a clone who doesn't have one."
Dante glanced over his shoulders, seeing Kix look even more concerned. He continued, "So, whenever these orders, whatever they are, come out. He will probably be at high risk to be considered treasonist when he questions the orders."
Kix made a small hum, "Well, that could be a problem. I'll have to let Rex know as well. Thank you and please delete that data before you file the report."
"Yes sir." Dante sighed, for a moment looking and feeling a lot older than he actually was. Being a medic during a war can take a lot of life from a person. Suddenly, Crosshair's boot lightly tapped Dante's side as if Crosshair was kicking him. Dante looked over at the clone still sitting close to the counter. Crosshair gave him a small smirk.
Kix made a humph and moved away to leave the room, “Great work like always. It should hopefully be a fairly slow night tonight, so get some rest once you’re done with the report.”
Dante made a small hum returning to his work, finishing his report, and submitting it.