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Roadside Assistance

Summary:

A vehicle breakdown looks similar no matter where you are in the galaxy.

ARCs are no exception.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

"You are not a mechanic."

Fives huffs, rummaging through the repair kit. "No, but do you want to be stuck here tonight since comms are down?"

"We'll be stuck here even longer if you put that through the bottom of the vehicle," Echo retorts, without glancing up from his datapad - finger scrolling to the next page.

"I'm being careful!"

"So that jack you're putting underneath that arch there is going to support the weight?" Echo asks. Fives can hear the eyebrow raised beneath his helmet.

Fives rolls his eyes, biting back on a frustrated outburst that neither of them need right now. Echo's injury is getting worse, though he's pushing through the pain - Fives knows he's taken to wearing his helmet more to hide his pained grimace from Fives.

"It'll lift it fine," Fives says instead.

"Just give me a second before you do. I'm just checking the manual."

Fives flaps his hand. "We don't need a manual, it's a basic repair. Even Kix could do it."

"Kix would also check the manual," Echo points out. Annoyingly, Fives has to concede that he's right. Not necessarily out loud, however. "Ah, here -"

Echo turns the datapad around to show him. "- put the jack just here. Else, you'll put it right through the bottom of the frame."

"What?"

Fives squints at the diagram on the screen. His jack positioning is not aligned to the image. Humming, he adjusts it to match the manual's depiction.

"Alright, got it. Thanks," Fives says. "Now, let's get this fixed so we can get you back to base."

The repair is relatively smooth sailing after that, much to Fives' relief. Echo's helmet dips towards his chest, eyes likely half-closed behind the visor by the time Fives is finished, struggling to keep watch on their surroundings. Fives quickly stows the repair kit and slings their packs onto the back.

Fives rouses him, helping him settle onto the now fixed vehicle - pausing to check the makeshift bandage they'd applied earlier in the day. Echo curls against him, armour scraping together as he holds on as best as possible. His helmeted head resting on Fives' shoulder as they head back to base. Even in Echo's pained exhaustion Fives can hear him thinking.

"Yes, yes," he eventually says with a smile under his own helmet. "You were correct about needing a manual."

Echo hums in that pleased manner of his. "And you were right about needing to get back before nightfall," he points out, his voice strained - and not from admitting that Fives was right. "Thanks, by the way."

Fives spares a hand from the controls to squeeze Echo's wrist between the gap in the armour plating. "It was a team effort."

Notes:

Coming to you from the waiting area of the local garage following a wonderful puncture.

And what's better than one puncture? Two cars with a puncture on the same day.

It's been one of those days 🤣

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