Brother, I'm here

Aftermath

      Echo woke up drenched in sweat and panting. He was so used to helping Fives with his nightmares that he had barely tried to help himself. It had been about two weeks since the incident on Rishi. Two weeks since Droidbait was shot. Two weeks since Cutup had been eaten. Two weeks since Hevy had exploded himself. Two weeks since Domino Squad was together. 

         Echo got up and walked around the barracks, and automatically check Fives' bunk. he wasn't there. His armor wasn't there either. "Fives?" Echo whispered, trying not to wake anyone. Oh, great. Now Fives is gone! , Echo thought. He wasn't angry with Fives, just worried. Echo put on his armor and walked out of the barracks. He needed to find Fives. He ran down the hallways, looking for Fives. He wasn't anywhere. Then he headed down towards the mess. He saw Fives sitting there. "Hey, Fives, what happened? Why did you leave without telling me?" Echo said, trying to be a gentle as he could. "Echo. I-" Fives started. He seemed on the edge of tears. Echo sat down beside him. "What's wrong, Brother?" Echo asked him. "It's my fault, Echo. It's my fault that they died, it's all my fault," Fives said. "No. No, It isn't, Fives. It's not your fault," Echo reassured him. "But it is Echo. It's my fault! It's my fault that Cutup got eaten, I could've paid better attention, I could have gone instead of Hevy, I could have dived in front of Droidbait, I could have saved them, Echo," Fives said. "There's nothing that you could have done to save them, Fives. You did everything you could," Echo reminded him. Fives looked up at him. "Come on, Brother. Let's go back to sleep. I'm here to talk when you want to talk, okay?" Echo said. "Okay," Fives said, getting up. They went back to the barracks, and Fives climbed up into bed. Echo sat there until Fives went to sleep, and then he went to sleep himself. This was going to get harder. Much harder. And Echo was ready to help Fives when he needed it. Even if he didn't know what to say, Echo was there to listen. And he would as long as he had to.