"Senator, I've run those diagnostics on the banking clan and found that—" Elara cuts herself off as she looks up to find the room to be empty.

The sound of hurried footsteps running through the hallway earns her attention and she glances out of Padmé's quarters to find a rush of soldiers.

"What's going on?" She asks nobody in particular as the troops continue to run by. "Hey, you." She singles out a troop across the hallway. "What is all this?"

"You didn't hear?" The soldier in the red armor asks. "An attempt has been made on the Chancellor's life. This entire place is on lockdown."

Elara's eyes widen.

"You shouldn't be out here." The trooper continues, ushering her back into Padmé's quarters.

"Wait, but-"

"It's for your own safety." He continues before closing the door with her inside and standing guard.

Elara's mind spins as she looks around the room. More commotion comes from the hallway and she presses her ear to the door.

"He's fled the vicinity. He is unarmed but is considered to be extremely dangerous." A voice explains. "This particular trooper has a distinctive 5 tattoo on his right temple."

Elara's heart drops at what she overhears. What they're saying about Fives can't possibly be true.

The sound of Padmé arguing with the guard to let her into her own quarters reaches her ears next and Elara scans the room for another way out. If she's going to get out of here and help Fives, it's now or never. Her eyes linger on the large windows and she pushes one open before looking down at the ground about 2 stories below her.

She thinks quickly as the arguing on the other side of the door continues and rips the bottom of her dress to use as a makeshift parachute before jumping out of the window. The fabric, however, fails to catch enough wind to slow her fall.

Thankfully, a speeder zooms by just in time to catch her and Elara grunts as she lands on the cold metal. The driver, an Ishi Tib gentleman, yells at her in Tibranese as he drives, likely telling her to get off of his speeder.

Elara glances down at the rush of traffic below her and the long drop to the planet's surface and swallows her nerves. She manages to take a deep breath but isn't prepared for when the Ishi Tib man slams on his brakes as he approaches traffic, causing her to go flying off of the speeder without warning.

This time, however, she lands on a flat, stationary surface. A groan escapes her lips as she pushes herself off of the ground and looks up to find all air traffic at a halt. As she walks through the lower levels of Coruscant, she notices Fives's face showing on all screens throughout the city along with the word "WANTED" in big letters beneath it.

"If I were Fives, where would I hide?" She asks herself, looking through the diminishing crowd. Her eyes land on a small group of clones laughing outside of 79's and a small smile tugs at her lips. "In plain sight."

*

After hearing the true meaning behind the chips from the Chancellor himself—who had those chips implanted purposefully in order to control the clones, of course Fives wanted to kill him. He should've trusted Elara's gut feeling about that slimey Hutt of a man.

His escape from the Senate building was a chaotic one to say the least, but he eventually makes it to the lower levels of Coruscant. Upon his arrival at 79's, he grabs a hat off of a drunken brother and places it on his own head as a disguise.

The usual chatter and commotion of 79's only feeds the soldier's anxiety. His eyes scan the crowd for any of his squad mates—he doubts they'd ever come here without him but it's his only hope at the moment.

To his surprise, he finds Kix standing at the bar as he waits for his refill. After waiting for a few moments too long he decides to hit the refresher, giving Fives the perfect opportunity to talk to him alone.

Fives walks in on Kix checking himself out in the mirror and startles him when he speaks. "So I guess the 501st is back on Coruscant."

Kix tries to pretend he wasn't just checking himself out, but fails miserably. "Yeah we uh.. We just got back from Ringo Vinda." He states. "The strangest thing happened out there."

"Yeah." Fives says as he removes the stolen hat. "I know."

Kix turns to face the man in shock, taking in his shaved head and shiny armor. "Fives?" He asks, coming up with scenarios on what could've happened on Kamino. "What's going on? They say you tried to assassinate the Chancellor, and that you're infected with that virus that killed Tup!"

"I don't have time to explain. All I can tell you is that I'm being framed." He looks down. "All of us, even the Jedi, are in grave danger."

Kix's eyes widen. "But.. What can I do, Fives? How can I help?"

"What I'm mixed up in, it goes all the way to the top. The highest levels are involved in the conspiracy." Fives explains. "I have to talk to General Skywalker and Rex directly. Alone."

"I can contact Rex but I can't guarantee he'll bring the General." Kix offers.

Fives nods. "Thanks Kix, I appreciate it." He enters coordinates into Kix's keypad. "Make sure he meets me there." Fives puts the hat back on and heads for the door.

Kix looks down at the coordinates for a moment longer before turning to face his brother once again. "What about Ellie?"

Fives freezes as he reaches the door. His heart drops to his stomach at the thought of what's going through her head. She's had to have heard of this by now. "Leave her out of this." Fives instructs. "She's been through enough."

Kix nods, not completely agreeing that leaving her in the dark is a good idea. Fives disappears, avoiding the troops that are searching the bar and slipping back onto the streets of Coruscant.

Finally exiting the refresher, Kix returns to his table and sighs as he sinks into the cushioned booth.

"Where have you been?" Jesse asks, his eyelids falling. "And where's your drink?"

The medic sighs as he examines his brother's state. His eyes move to meet the other pair beside Jesse's and his heart races nervously.

"Any sign of him?" Elara asks, pulling Jesse's head down to rest on her shoulder.

"No." Kix lies, keeping his promise to Fives.

Elara clenches her jaw and nods slightly. Her worry for Fives grows with each passing second. She had hoped that he would come here, in attempt to blend in, but apparently she was wrong.

Kix notices the worried look on her face and sighs inwardly. "Why don't we head back? Maybe they've found him already." He suggests.

Elara nods in compliance, not having any other ideas. Kix scoops Jesse up and Elara follows him out of the bar before boarding a speeder and heading back to the clone barracks.

"The entire Senate building is on lockdown so you'll have to stay here for a while." Kix informs her and she nods.

Once they arrive at their empty quarters, Kix lays Jesse down before freeing himself of his armor. His eyes land on Elara's curled up form on what used to be Echo's bunk and his shoulders sink.

"Hey, Ellie." Kix speaks softly as he sits on the edge of the bed. "He's going to be fine."

Elara sniffs as she sits up, hugging her knees to her chest. "He didn't do it." She states. "Fives would never hurt anyone."

"I know." Kix sighs, wrapping her in a hug and pulling her to his chest.

Quite some time passes with the two of them in that same position, their embrace only interrupted when the door slides open to reveal a fully-armored Rex. Elara's head shoots up and Kix's breathing becomes uneasy as the Captain steps into the dim room.

"Kix." He speaks barely above a whisper.

Kix stands from his spot on the bunk and approaches the Captain. Rex removes his helmet to reveal his red eyes and Kix's heart drops.

"Where's Jesse?" Rex asks.

"Asleep, sir." Kix states, his voice betraying him as it shakes—tipping Elara off that something is wrong.

She helps herself up from the bed next, standing behind Kix. Rex's eyes widen as he glances at the medic, who has no sort of explanation for the man.

"Rex?" Elara asks, her voice trembling almost as much as her body.

"El, I didn't know you were here." Rex swallows his nerves.

She remains silent, not daring to move an inch in fear of her body giving way beneath her.

"Ellie, I.. I couldn't stop it." Rex begins. "Before I could do anything they.." He stops himself. "He's gone."

A heart-wrenching cry fills the room as Elara places a hand over her mouth in an attempt to muffle the sound. She falls to her knees as tears resume streaming down her face.

Rex crouches beside her but she can't even bring herself to look at him. "I know you loved him." He places a comforting hand on her back but she flinches at the contact, causing him to move away.

Kix crouches on the other side of her, not exactly sure how to approach the situation. "I'm so sorry." He breathes, a few silent tears rolling down his cheeks as well.

Elara shakes her head in disbelief as she continues to cry. She musters up enough strength to stand but still can't look her brothers in the eye. "I need to.. Be alone." She speaks inaudibly between sobs.

"I really don't think that's the best idea right now." Rex says, but she pushes passed him and out of the room anyway.

The Captain moves to follow her but Kix puts an arm out to stop him. "Maybe we should give her some space."

Rex glances over at the medic for a moment before pushing his hand down and following his little sister. "Ellie!" He calls, jogging to catch up to her. "Elara, please!"

He finally reaches her and grabs her hand but she pulls away from him.

"He didn't do it." Elara sniffles, continuing towards the hangar. "He wasn't capable of doing anything bad." She continues.

"El, he trapped the General and I in a ray shield." Rex sighs. "They're saying he had some sort of parasite that caused him to lash out."

"No." She points a finger at him. "Fives was a good soldier and an even better man. You of all people should know that." She clenches her jaw. "How could you even question one of your own men? One of your brothers? One of your closest friends?" She raises her voice.

Rex looks back at her with a sad and slightly guilty expression. He's not quite sure what to make of all this, he heard some of Fives's side but the Chancellor has scientific proof—or at least that's what he claims.

"You betrayed him." Elara snaps, glaring up at Rex though her tears. "You killed the man who would've taken a bullet for you. Who almost did take a bullet for you on Umbara." She reminds him.

"I didn't kill him." Rex clenches his jaw.

"You didn't save him either." Elara mutters, turning on her heels and climbing onto a speeder before heading back to the Senate building.

Rex stands on the platform as he watches her disappear into the blur of lights. His heart sinks in his chest and he sighs as he turns back to the barracks.

————————————————
Author's Note:

I have been putting off writing this chapter for so long but it had to be done.

My heart is hevy (get it) but there's still much to come so try to cheer up.