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#also ONE fives mention between him and rex
gaeasun · 6 months
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Cut Lawquane was absolutely a Commando
Ok, crazy theory time.
I think Cut Lawquane was a Commando, or least a Commander. But going with Commando for now. But I don't think he was a rank and file clone trooper.
All of the clone troopers i think should be shown as exceptionally trained, but Cut Lawquane showed incredible skill, even though we saw him compared to Rex the entire episode. Evidences are below:
A) Rex is both a Captain and one of the oldest of the CT's, but the entire time Cut acts as his equal and perhaps even elder. He doesn't talk quite down to Rex, but it reminds me of how people act when they're just a grade apart. Not like they know everything and the other knows nothing, but there is a definite difference between them. Also he instinctively recognizes Rex as a Captain, but is not phased by that at all.
B) He disables Rex, the Captain Rex, with a farming tool in zero seconds flat, and does it without hurting him.
C) He recognizes Commando droids, which are typically only used in special assignments. And he also knows that it takes a headshot to pierce their armor. On Rishi it was Captain Rex who recognized them and said they were brand new. So for Cut to already know exactly what they are, especially when he's been out of the war for months, at least implies he could have been on high stakes missions before right in the beginning of the war. Which is also why I'm leaning Commando instead of Commander, because it's more Commandos who go on missions while Commanders are still often with general forces.
D) He has a highly developed sense of individuality and creative thinking, which was encouraged more in the special forces than general troopers.
E) Cut also says, specifically, "everyone I cared about, my team, was gone." Commandos are specifically trained to work in groups of four as a cohesive team. additionally, with these commando units being so tightly knit, the feelings of complete loss could have played a large role in Cut's desertion.
F) Cut and Rex play a game of dejarik, and while the winner is not shown, by the end they're both down to the last piece, which shows that Cut is around Rex's level when it comes to strategy. And Rex is so good at strategy that Marshall Commander Cody, who the commanding officer of around 36,000 men, considered Rex to be one of the best they had in that regard. Not to mention that Cut is impressed with Rex too.
G) Cut has 3 blaster type weapons that are probably the weapons he had on him when he deserted: an older rifle, a blaster carbine, and a DC-17. Now, it makes sense for a farmer to own a rifle, and the blaster carbine is a general GAR blaster. but the DC-17 is the same blaster pistol that Rex uses, that we have only seen used by ARC Troopers, Captains, and Commanders.
H) This is probably the most obvious one of all, but Cut is an incredibly good fighter. Even our beloved ARC troopers Fives and Echo struggle to take on a few. Cut takes on 20 and lives (granted the droids are not top form but its still impressive). He makes three headshots in a row with his rifle in less than three seconds, and the next three kill shots are all headshots as well. he also throws a wooden rafter-beam off him (that might be dad-strength tho) and hits a metal droid with a wooden chair hard enough to break both of them. he also punched one of them in the face hard enough the droids eyes flashed red (and then slightly regretted it, but it didn't look like he broke his hand either).
I) Cut hadn't been fighting for at least several months, since he deserted almost right after Geonosis. so as incredible as his skills are, he had probably been even better before, so just think about that for a moment.
Edit: i forgot to put this in because it wasnt in The Deserter, but by bad batch he already has gray streaks and a receding hairline. guys an old teenager for sure
So, Cut is a highly trained and skilled fighter in both hand to hand combat and blaster combat, he's at least as old as Rex and is not intimidated by his rank at all, he was in a specific team and felt like everything had no meaning after they all died, he has the weapons of an officer, had seen enough of commando droids to recognize them and their weaknesses, is Rex's match in strategy and combat while being more independent.
All of this points to Cut being anything but a regular CT, and as far as I'm concerned he was absolutely a Commando.
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gaaaaaahh okay, I just finished rewatching the citadel arc and I have SO MANY FEELINGS?????
like, the amount of clones that died in that arc is like super high??? and like watch it okay, because EVRYTIME a clone dies, either Rex or Cody or Fives or another clone there will look to the fallen brother only for one of the Jedi to go "We must keep going." in their ominous Jedi voice and then the clones faces fall. And no, it didn't only happen with Echo (which is a whole rant in and off itself), it happend every. single. time.
by the end of it two clones fall off a wall, and as they walk past the bodies the Jedi don't even acknowledge them while Rex looks at them and doesn't even attempt to stop anymore because well, dead anyway, right?
and don't even get me started on HOW DEFEATED Fives sounds after Echos death, like he doesn't even have faith anymore that they'll get outta there alive. FIVES. MR. SUNSHINE AND OPTIMISM. MR. BLAST MY WAY OUTTA ANYTHING NO PROBLEM. (cute moment between him and rex though, when rex helps him up after an explosion, I like to think he did it also as a show of emotional support, but sTILL)
and THEN Piell dies and everybody is like "funeral time, we need to take a minute and honour him even though it could cost us the entire mission and our lives" and I'm??????? WHY???? you had to leave all the clones without ONE WORD of acknowledgement and Piell gets a whole funeral just because he's a Jedi? and like, I love Obi-Wan, okay, but he gives this little funeral speech and honours him and all that, but he doesn't even verbally mention the clones sacrifice, even though the clones ARE RIGHT THERE WITH THEM.
like how's that gotta feel for Fives, who just lost his last batch mate and the only thing that was said after his cry out for his brother was "We gotta go!" like, way to make them all feel like second-class citizens
and like, later on Plo does refer to the remaining team as "survivors", which does acknowledge that many lives were lost, which is very in character and I love that, but honestly, it's still like a bandaid on a bandage level wound, yanno? anyway, this was torture, thanks for the experience.
bonus: when tarkin and anakin shake hands in the end of the episode you hear like ONE BEAT of the Imperial March and it chilled me to the bone (a sticker for Obi for saying he doesn't like Tarkin immediately after he left)
bonus bonus: 2/3 of this arc is Anakin bonding with the guy who later tries to slap ahsoka with the death sentence even though she rescued him like three times and I just think that's real cringe bro
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anxiouspineapple99 · 6 months
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Eternal Embers
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Clone Medic Kix x reader, Clone Trooper Hardcase, ARC Trooper Jesse, Captain Rex, mention of ARC Troopers Fives and Echo
Word Count: ~3k
Warnings: light swearing, monster AU, mention of war. Let me know if I missed anything.
A/N: I've been holding onto this for Pineapple's Halloween party and I'm so excited to finally share it! 💙🖤
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The wind howled through Carida’s mountains, although they acted as a buffer around the Republic outpost. Troopers filtered through the camp, sleeping in shifts to give their brothers a break between Separatist attacks. The constant flow of boys in blue also had your medbay bustling, but, as the binary suns started to set, the stream of injuries started to ebb. You finished securing a bacta patch onto Sterling’s blaster burn, lightly patting his arm above the bandage with a smile.
“Thanks, Doc,” he sighed, a tired smile spreading across his face. 
“Get some rest,” you urged, lightly pushing him to lay back. Sterling’s eyelids seemed to grow heavy, the veil of exhaustion weighing him down until the snap of tent flaps had him bolting upright. You spun on your heels, blinking rapidly at the two troopers that came busting into your medtent. 
“Jesse! What the hell?” you scolded, sidestepping a cart as you hurried to where Jesse and Hardcase were still standing.
“Fierfek, he’s not in here,” Jesse hissed just loud enough for you to hear. 
“Hey,” you snapped, grabbing Hardcase’s arm to pull him to face you, “why are you bursting in here like your asses are on fire?”
“Have you seen Kix?” Hardcase asked, completely ignoring your question. Air caught in your throat as you picked up on the way his voice ticked up in concern, a rarity for a man like Hardcase. 
“No - no, I thought he was in one of the other tents,” you stammered, tightening your grip on his arm. Jesse and Hardcase turned to look at each other and even with their helmets on, you could tell there was something you were missing. 
“Come on,” Jesse murmured, nudging Hardcase’s shoulder. He tried to pull out of your grip but you held on, yanking Hardcase back toward you. 
“Doc, we need to go.”
“Not without telling me what the hell is going on,” you insisted, following Jesse outside and pulling Hardcase along. 
“Doc,” Hardcase whined, lightly shaking his arm to get your attention, “don’t do this.”
“I know you’re setting up a search party and I’m coming,” you stated, releasing Hardcase to cross your arms. Jesse’s hand clenched at his side and you were almost sure his jaw was doing the same thing under his helmet. There were maybe three people who were aware of the tense back and forth between you and Kix, Jesse being one of them. 
Ever since you had joined the 501st, you and Kix had been doing some version of this ridiculous dance. Kix would lean over your shoulder, his lips too close to your ear as he murmured instructions or praise, or him sitting close enough that his leg pressed against yours when inventory needed to be done. His feelings towards you felt just as obvious as yours but he always seemed to take a step back, putting space between you and him until the cycle started all over again. And yet, you couldn’t seem to keep him at arm’s length, falling back into his orbit without even trying. Maybe it was the longing in his eyes even when he pulled away that kept you coming back…like a moth to a flame. 
Maybe it was something in your expression or Jesse’s own bleeding heart that had him letting out a somewhat dramatic sigh. “Fine, fine. We’ll need a medic anyway.”
“Thank you,” you whispered, resting a hand on his arm. Jesse nodded once before herding you and Hardcase toward the command tent. 
Rex was already waiting, absently twirling one of his blasters as he scanned the rocky slopes surrounding the camp. By the time the small search party left the camp, it consisted of you, Hardcase, Jesse, Rex, Hawk, Fives, and Echo. You couldn’t hear what Hawk yelled over the drone of the gunship’s engines but based on the way the rest of the boys tensed, you assumed it was important and tightened your grip on the overhead strap you were holding. The gunship dropped into a canyon, kicking up dust as you jumped down, and you threw a grateful smile at Hardcase when he steadied you. 
“Fives, Echo, head north. Hawk is flying south. Hardcase, you’re with me heading east,” Rex ordered, glancing toward you and Jesse. You took a minute to glance around, trying to figure out where you even were. From what you could tell, you were in the middle of two mountain ranges and you tried to look for any signs of a battle but there was nothing. No scorch marks, no rubble, just smooth mountain faces that made no sense. You jumped when Jesse nudged you, snapping you back to reality just in time to see Fives, Echo, Hardcase, and Rex heading off in their respective directions. 
“Jesse, what are we doing out here?” you asked, hugging your rifle a little closer. The only response you got was the crunch of gravel under his boots but you continued to stare holes into the side of his head. Finally, his shoulders lifted in an exaggerated inhale and you almost smiled. 
“We, uh, got intel that the Seppies are traveling through pre-drilled tunnels in the mountains. That seems like the, uh, best way to move a prisoner, don’t ya think?” You almost wanted to call him out on the lie but you had a feeling it would get you nowhere. 
“Where do we start?” you asked instead, scanning the jagged rocks lining the wide passage. 
“I’ll take the left side. Just look for any tunnels,” Jesse replied, almost sounding relieved that you didn’t push him. You let out a soft sigh, falling back a step but keeping Jesse in your peripheral as you trudged along. You almost didn’t realize how much farther ahead Jesse was until your com beeped, dragging you out of your mindless wandering. 
“What’s up?” you huffed, searching for familiar blue armor. 
“I took a left down a tunnel so be careful out there by yourself,” Jesse warned, the frequency crackling slightly. 
“I’ll be fine,” you mumbled, following the gentle curve of the path. Your eyes followed the rocky slope upward, tracing the sharp peak of the mountains that stretched hundreds of feet over your head. The twin suns had almost set, making the chill in the air more prominent and you tucked your arms tighter against your side. You were so distracted by the environment around you that you almost walked right past a large opening in the mountain face. 
You squinted into the darkness, searching for any bit of movement only to freeze when you heard the echo of rocks hitting the ground from deeper in the tunnel. It wouldn’t take Jesse long to get back to you but something told you to take a step forward like an invisible string reeling you in. You glanced in the direction Jesse had gone before slipping your pack off, rummaging through it to find your glowrod and securing your rifle to the side of the pack. The warm, yellowish light illuminated the entryway and you chanced one last look over your shoulder before taking a few slow steps into the tunnel. 
The walls glistened faintly, drawing you closer but when your fingers brushed the rock they were dry. A thin layer of dusk stuck to your skin and you rubbed it between your fingers, mesmerized by the way it twinkled. The loud crunch of rock shifting behind you made you tense, your muscles locking up as you found the courage to turn around. At first, you didn’t see anything other than a few rocks settling, your glowrod carefully scanning the wall opposite you. The light seemed to bend around the dark boulders, casting shadows across the walls. 
You looked back down at your fingers, the faint shimmer of dust still coating your skin and you froze. 
The growl was faint, barely above a whisper, but the silence of the cavern made it sound deafening. Something scraped against the ground, making you jerk to your left, your mouth dropping open when the light reflected off a large, slitted eye. Then it blinked. Your gasp was almost silent as you scrambled back only to step on one of the dislodged rocks that sent you tumbling onto your ass. And all you could do was stare up at the beast as it lifted its head. 
Despite the adrenaline pumping through your veins, you couldn’t look away. Brilliant blue scales shimmered in the low light as it moved, seemingly shifting from navy to sky blue every time you blinked. The creature shook its head and you watched the black-tipped spines lining its neck shift. Its massive head turned slightly giving you a full view of its face. Two horns extended from either side of its head, black tips bleeding into a powdery blue and finally blending into the scales encircling its eyes. The creature’s nose curved into a sharp point, resembling a beak and your eyes lingered there for a moment. 
You jumped when it moved again but instead of a growl, this time it made a soft chirping noise as it lowered its head almost like it was…trying to look smaller. Some part of you was screaming to run, to get as far away as possible but there was something about the creature that had you shifting onto your knees. Dark eyes locked onto you, watching every move as you inched closer. 
“Hey, it’s okay,” you soothed, despite your voice shaking lightly. The…dragon…warbled softly, those sharp spines bristling as you reached out. You patiently inched closer, your eyes scanning its body, noting the large wings tucked up against its back. 
“Doc, you read me?” You stopped immediately, glancing down at the com on your wrist briefly before looking up at the dragon again. Although, it didn’t look frightened or even startled, no, instead it made another chirping sound, one that sounded almost…happy? 
“That’s Jesse,” you said, meeting the dragon’s dark eyes. It canted its head, blinking slowly before lowering its head to gently nudge your arm, nostrils flaring with a sharp exhale. You took that as a sign to reach over, opening the channel but not looking away from the creature’s face. “I’m here.”
“Maker, you scared the hell out of me,” Jesse sighed, his voice coming out a bit grainy and far away. “Where…you?”
“I, uh, found a…friend,” you replied, a nervous smile lifting the corner of your mouth. The dragon made a slightly different chittering noise, its beak snapping together quietly as it sniffed your arm again. Even through the rough connection, you could hear Jesse’s sharp inhale. 
“Oh, you asshole,” Jesse hissed, making your brows knit together. “What did I tell you?” Before you could answer, the creature looming over you opened its mouth, a low rumbling sound coming from the back of its throat. When you looked back up at it, you could’ve sworn it was glaring based on the way its dark eyes narrowed. 
“What am I missing here?” you finally asked, mindlessly resting your hand on the dragon’s long snout. This time the noise that rumbled through its body was softer and if you didn’t know any better, you might’ve compared it to a purr.
“You found your partner,” Jesse grumbled and you went oddly still. It took a few seconds for your brain to comprehend what that meant as you turned your head, just watching the way the dragon pressed into your hand. It…he…seemed perfectly content but as if he could feel your stare, his eyes drifted open. 
“Kix?” Of course, he couldn’t verbally respond but the soft chirp that was followed by him nudging your hand with his nose was enough of an answer. Your eyes followed the slope of his head, admiring the way the colors shifted and you decided that even in this form, he was still breathtaking. Then it clicked. 
With the constant push and pull, Kix only giving so much before completely disengaging. It had nothing to do with you and everything to do with what was staring back at you with dark slitted eyes and pearlescent scales. A small part of you wanted to be angry, to demand why he couldn’t just tell you, but would you have even believed him? 
“Oh, Kix,” you whispered, leaning a bit closer. You jumped with a surprised laugh when he exhaled harshly, right in your face, almost like a warning about the direction your thoughts were going. 
“Well, I don’t hear any screaming so that’s a good sign,” Jesse commented, his voice echoing through your com. You looked over your shoulder, offering him a smile as he moved closer and lifted his helmet off to look directly at Kix. “Told you she could’ve handled it.” 
Kix huffed through his nose, ruffling your hair as he lifted his head away from your hand. 
“Come on, you can either shift back for a ride to camp or fly. Your choice,” Jesse said, arching a brow that made his tattoo stretch slightly. Kix grumbled in the back of his throat, shifting into the shadows again as Jesse pulled you to your feet. “Best give him some room.” 
“Why?” you murmured, letting Jesse pull you back a few steps. Although, you didn’t have to wait long. Kix rose to his feet, his scales rattling as he shook off the dust clinging to him. The ceiling of the cave was low, forcing him to keep his head down as he maneuvered around the boulders in his path. It wasn’t until you stepped into the cool evening air that you could truly admire his grandeur. Large, black wings stretched high over your head, his tail sweeping side to side, and your lips parted in awe at his sheer size. 
“Alright, quite showin’ off, asshole,” Jesse teased which earned him another grumpy huff. Kix finally shifted his attention to you, his head tilting slightly and for a moment, he almost looked smug before his wings extended again. It was incredible to watch him leap into the air so effortlessly, the moon's glow making his scales twinkle. “Come on, Doc.” 
The trip back to the rendezvous spot seemed like it took forever yet no time at all. Suddenly you were standing in front of Rex, Hardcase, Fives, and Echo, the faint whine of a gunship approaching filling the evening air. No one mentioned the bantha in the room, already preoccupied with other random conversations until Hawk came into view. The only acknowledgment of what you just discovered was a wink from Hardcase as he hopped into the gunship. 
The small outpost was quiet, most troopers getting a few hours of sleep where they could. Which meant you hadn’t expected to see General Skywalker waiting when you made it back. You joined the small squad in saluting the general, anxiously waiting to see if Skywalker pulled you aside but he seemed to be content with Rex filling him in on what happened. There was an awkward moment when you stood next to the quietly hissing gunship, debating your next move until movement from your medtent caught your eye. Someone knocked into your shoulder, sending you stumbling forward a step before you turned a glare in Jesse’s direction. He only winked, jerking his chin toward the tent before letting Hardcase drag him away. 
It took a few minutes and even more deep, calming breaths before you finally made it to the medtent, standing just outside the slightly parted flaps. 
“You can come in, you know,” Kix’s disembodied voice called and for some reason, it was a shock. Hearing his voice spurred you into pulling the flap back, curiosity getting the better of you. Kix’s back was to you and he was in the bottom half of his armor, such a stark contrast to how he looked not even a standard hour earlier. 
“I’m not having a crazy, vivid dream, right?” you asked, surprising yourself a bit. Kix’s shoulders jumped when he snorted, turning his head enough to see you out of the corner of his eye. 
“Sadly, no,” he replied, turning to face you and crossing his arms. He would’ve looked relaxed to anyone else but you noticed the set of his jaw, the tension in the muscles of his neck as he waited for whatever came next. “It’s very real.” 
“Why didn’t you tell me?” 
“How was I supposed to tell the person I - I’m…falling in love with that I’m also a beast out of a fairy tale?” The bombshells seemed to keep coming and it had to be written all over your face. Kix stiffened when you closed the remaining distance, stopping within arm’s length of him but he didn’t pull away. 
“You mean that?” you whispered, searching his face for any signs. 
“Yes,” he mumbled, looking down at his boots, “so how was I supposed to ask you to accept that?”
“By simply asking.” You rested a hand on his arm, drawing his eyes off the floor, and your heart ached at the vulnerability in his endless brown eyes. “We’ve made it through some of the worst parts of war together and it’s not over yet. I think we can handle this if you’ll let me in.” Kix squeezed his eyes shut, letting out a harsh exhale through his nose and you tried to fight a smile at the similarities you could already see. You let your hand follow the swell of his bicep, moving across his shoulder to gently cradle his face, drawing his attention back to you. 
“Together, huh?” he whispered, leaning forward until there was barely any space between you and him.
“Together,” you agreed, meeting him the rest of the way to press your forehead against his. Kix finally uncrossed his arms to cup the back of your neck and you let out a long breath, relaxing into the touch you’d experienced hints of and had craved for so long. 
“If forever does exist, please let it be you,” Kix breathed, the words brushing against your lips. Words couldn’t express the way you felt or how much you hoped for the same thing, so instead you tilted your head just enough to find his lips. 
You hoped Kix was what forever tasted like. 
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literallyjustanerd · 14 days
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Clone Wars Hospital AU Headcanons
Forgive me my shameless indulgence, but years of working in a hospital has given me Thoughts™ so just for some stupid fun: Welcome to the GHR: the Grand Hospital of the Republic! Where the Jedi are doctors, the clones are nurses, and the padawans are interns
501st battalion: Paediatrics
212th battalion: Maternity
104th battalion: Gen-Med
327th battalion: Orthopedics
Corrie Guard: Emergency Department
Headcanons below:
Paediatrics: Ward 501, Paediatrician Dr Anakin Skywalker
The ward is split on loving or hating Anakin, there's no in between
He's great with the kids though, the patients love him
Rex is the unit manager who has more experience than Anakin despite Anakin “outranking” him
Has to gently steer Anakin back on track and wearily remind him not to make orders just to spite other doctors
Constant happy music playing in the ward, everyone has fun accessories and brightly coloured scrubs
Fives and Echo are the most senior nurses and also the worst influences
Together they can cannulate a kid without them even noticing but also they're the ones shit-talking the annoying/unhelpful parents in the nurses' station five minutes later
If the kids are extra good, Jesse lets them colour in his tattoo
Dogma and Tup are the new grads - Tup is great with the kids, gentle and always gets them smiling, Dogma makes them cry no matter how hard he tries
Kix is NICU-trained and somehow still remembers every single piece of anatomy and physiology from training. Unparallelled medication knowledge. He’s the one all the student nurses want to be paired with
Ahsoka is on her paediatric rotation under Anakin's instruction
She's the intern the nurses give their feedback and requests to when they don't want to talk to Anakin, because they know Anakin will listen to Ahsoka over them
Maternity: Ward 212, Obstetrician Dr Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan works closely with Anakin, refers most of his clients there for their child’s care
Anakin did rotations with him in training, Obi-Wan sometimes forgets that he's now a fully registered doctor and will still try to instruct/encourage him
Obi-Wan has borrowed Ahsoka for days in clinic or in the birthing unit, during which time the nurses will spend their entire shift trying to convince her to come to their unit instead
Obi-Wan is beloved by the nurses because he actually asks them for their input, unlike SOME doctors who just give orders (Anakin)
Did you catch him talking to the unit manager after handover this morning?? Hardcore flirting at 7:05am?? Cody was definitely into it
Cody is one of the most involved unit managers - he’s on the floor with the other nurses most days, always staying overtime and pulling double shifts to help keep things running smoothly
Waxer and Boil are considered bad luck charms - whenever they’re rostered on the same shift, things will always go to shit
God forbid either of them mentions it being “nice” or “quiet” on any given day - that just guarantees that three minutes later they’ll have five labouring people come in actively pushing 
The two of them once delivered a baby in the parking lot outside because the mother didn’t make it in time - the parents still bring Numa in to visit sometimes
Their nurses have the best stories, sometimes even more gory than ED
General Medical: Ward 104, Physician Dr Plo Koon
Has Dr Plo been here forever?? Nobody at the hospital can remember a time he didn't work here
The best doctor, agreed by all nurses and patients
Keeps offering free check-ups to the nurses on the ward
Brings snacks for the nurses' station
Wolffe is the scariest unit manager there is - grads and students are terrified of him
The unit is the most efficient in the hospital because of it
God help the pathologist who loses a sample from them. He will not hesitate to riskman you
*Over the PA* “Visiting hours finish at 1900. It is now 1902. Get the fuck out.”
Emergency Department: Corrie Guard, lawless wasteland
Boost, Comet and Sinker knew him in training and are immune to his glare, they use this power to constantly fuck with him
Caffeinated to the point of medical concern
Lectures drunk uni students about the dangers of alcohol before finishing night shift at 0730 and going home to drink wine straight from the bottle
If Fox has to triage one more belligerent idiot demanding immediate attention for a stubbed toe he's going to come through the plastic window and throw hands
Take the turkey sandwich and shut the fuck up
Constant arguments with the ward over whether or not the patients are stable enough for ward transfer
Just take the fucking patient Wolffe, they've got enough to deal with down here, they're bed blocked and there's a line out the door
Orthopedics: Ward 327, Orthopedic surgeon Dr Aayla Secura
They all started in sports science
The most jacked nurses
Group gym sessions before or after shifts
I don't care if you're tired. You're getting out of that bed whether you want to or not. Use it or lose it. Mobilise, bitch.
They’re the ones who keep stealing the bladder scanner from gen med but won’t admit to it
If you witnessed the incident between Dr Secura and the unit manager Bly at the last Christmas party, no you didn't
Bonus:
The Bad Batch are agency nurses, they go where they're needed and everyone hates them because they make more on the hour for it
Weird mish-mash of different skills and background knowledge
Will go eat dinner in their car instead of in the break room with the other nurses
Tech will not stop correcting people on the wards he’s put on, he is not popular for this despite mostly being right
“You can’t nurse-initiate that drug.”
“That phone order is invalid. We need to call the doctor for another.”
“The patient’s blood pressure is 135/82. This is technically outside normal parameters.”
Crosshair openly shit talks the other nurses with his patients because he knows he won’t be there tomorrow to catch the fallout
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book-of-baba-fett · 7 months
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Illicit Affairs - Chapter 21
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Captain Rex x OC
Previous Chapter
Chapter Summary: The battle for Anaxes has reached its breaking point. As the Republic and Separatist forces face off, will Rex and Talia be able to get past their history or will the rising tension between them lead to further broken hearts.
Chapter Rating: E (18+)
Warnings: Angst, Fluff, Smut, Oral (f receiving), PiV, creampie, canon typical violence, mentions of death.
A/N: Thanks for your patience with the wait on this one. It's a long chapter, but I in no good conscious could split it in half and make y'all wait (which for me, who loves good cliffhangers, is saying something.) Thanks to my darling @galacticgraffiti for beta reading, and for being with me on this journey for TWO YEARS. Won't be much longer for the next chapter.
Ao3 Link
Series Masterlist
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19 BBY - Anaxes
The Republic suffered heavy losses on Anaxes, something that Rex couldn’t help but feel a bit of guilt for as he walked through the medical station at camp. Given the chance, he wouldn’t do anything differently, he would always go back for Echo; but he couldn’t ignore the nagging thought in the back of his head that he should also have been in the field for the rest of his men. It was hard for him to not feel like he had the responsibility of the war on his shoulders. After so many years of command it was impossible to not feel that burden. Part of his mind told himself that he should be used to it by now, that this was the way of war. But the other part reminded himself that he was feeling that guilt because he was human. 
Echo had been in medical care since they arrived back on Anaxes the night before, and Rex hadn’t seen him since. He had to get caught up on the siege and was also encouraged by Kix to give the medical team some time, and Echo a chance for much needed rest. But Rex came as soon as he had a moment, he wanted Echo to know he had someone there for him. As soon as Rex walked in to see him, he was greeted by the sound of raucous laughter. 
“-and that’s not even all of it,” Jesse was saying as he stood in front of Echo, a grin overtaking his face. Kix was leaning on a table to the side, shaking his head but smiling along, Echo sat on the edge of his bed, his head in his hands as he shook with laughter. “You know how Hardcase could never say no to anything. So, when he was dared to try a sip, he downed the whole bottle-”
“And the whole barracks regretted the dare with how much he puked that night,” Rex added, remembering the story Jesse was sharing as he walked in. Jesse and Kix laughed at the memory and Echo smiled along. “We were lucky to be shipped out the next morning: I feel bad for the cleaning droids that had to deal with that.”
“I’m sure the 501st is responsible for half the contraband rules in the GAR,” Echo joined in, the smile on his face making him look livelier than he had the day before. Jesse and Kix said their goodbyes, giving Rex a chance to talk to Echo alone. 
“How are you feeling?” Rex asked tentatively.
“As good as I can be,” Echo replied simply with a small shrug. “Medics say I’m fine, I’ve just been getting some nutrients and solid food for the first time since…well, since it happened.”
Rex nodded, glad to know that there weren’t any flags raised. Echo would still have to go through some conditioning and a psych eval before going back to combat, but there was some relief in knowing Echo would be ok. Echo shifted his seat, a frown creasing on his lips as his face scrunched in thought. He glanced at the door where Jesse and Kix just walked out, then back at Rex. 
“Fives is dead, isn’t he?” 
Rex exhaled heavily. Of course, Echo was too smart to not figure out why Fives hadn’t come to see him yet.
“I’m sorry. That’s one of the reasons I was coming to talk to you today.” 
Echo nodded, his head tilted down, so he was looking at his hand and the scomp link the Techno Union had attached. “The last thing I remember was him calling my name. Next thing I knew-”
Echo’s words choked in his throat, but he swallowed whatever he was trying to say. He glanced back up at Rex and forced a smile. “Figured he would have been on the mission with you guys, that’s how I knew he was gone.”
“I’m sorry,” Rex repeated, because once more guilt was taking over him. It felt too simple just to say ‘sorry’. That one small word couldn’t encompass all the guilt he was feeling, and how it connected to Fives.  He forced a low chuckle, thinking of a different world.“Fives would have been the first volunteer, and he might have single-handedly taken on the Techno Union if he’d seen what they did to you.”
“How did it-” Echo started to ask but a knock sounded on the door. Rex and Echo glanced to see Talia standing in the doorway. A pit formed in Rex’s stomach at her sudden appearance; he hadn’t spoken to her since their conversation on the Havoc Marauder. 
“Sorry, I can go if I’m interrupting,” Talia quickly said, her eyes flicking once in Rex’s direction before locking on Echo. “I just wanted to see how you were doing.”
“It’s fine. I was just leaving, General,” Rex said quickly. Echo’s eyes darted between the two of them, but he smiled politely at Talia. In truth Rex did have to leave - he was supposed to be in command for a briefing on his next assignment. And Cody was still injured, so he was going to stop by his quarters to see him after checking on Echo. He was also being selfish, because he hadn’t thought of how he would explain how Fives died to Echo before he stepped in. Everything around Fives’ death was painful, and he didn’t want to cause Echo any more potential stress. It was just another burden for Rex to carry. 
Since Cody was out of immediate danger, he was allowed to rest in his officer’s quarters and attend briefings, but much to his chagrin, he wasn’t cleared for combat. When Rex entered Cody’s room, the commander was out of the bed, sitting at his desk with a datapad in front him. Rex knew no medical orders could keep his brother from work. Cody didn’t look too bad anymore, he was just bandaged around his chest; it was probably precaution more than anything that kept him on rest. Cody looked up as Rex entered and offered a mumbled greeting.
“How are you feeling?” Rex asked, sitting on the edge of the bed that Cody had abandoned.
“I’m fine,” Cody grunted, uncharacteristically grumpy. He sighed and looked at Rex. “I should be cleared for duty already. It’s ridiculous being cooped up here.”
“I’m sure Kenobi has things under control, and wouldn’t want you to rush yourself,” Rex offered. Cody grunted again.
“You’re right. Hell, he’s probably the one ordering the medics to keep me here no matter how much I try and pull rank,” Cody’s tone had lightened a bit. “Still, I can’t imagine I’ll be out of action much longer. I heard things went well on Skako.”
Rex nodded. “Echo’s still being looked over. He seems to be holding things together well, after everything he’s been through.”
“That’s good to hear, he was always a good kid,” Cody said. He sighed as he leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his hair. “Never deserved for that to happen to him.”
Rex nodded. He couldn’t think of anyone who would deserve what the Techno Union did to Echo.
“How’ve you been holding up?” Cody asked. 
“It’s not easy to see brother in that state, or  to know I’m partially responsible for him being left behind-”
“You’re not,” Cody interrupted. “You know you can’t think like that. It was a mission from hell, and we couldn’t have known what would happen to him.”
“Still doesn’t make it any easier.” Rex replied darkly.
Cody seemed to accept that and nodded. 
“Still, that actually wasn’t what I was talking about,” Cody said slowly, as if Rex was missing something more obvious. Rex just stared at him in mild confusion. Cody put his datapad down and fixed Rex with a serious stare. “You looked like you saw a ghost when you saw General Riva the other day, Rex.”
“I don’t see what that has to do with anything.” Rex frowned and shook his head.
“Rex, we aren’t going to sit here and act like you haven’t been a miserable piece of shit since you two ended things.”
Rex scoffed at that, “Bold of you to call that out.”
Cody sighed and pushed his chair back. “Honestly… seeing how you’ve been since and watching you two dance around each other in command meetings this past week, I’m surprised no one else called either of you out before.”
“There’s nothing to call out, we ended-”
“I know it’s over,” Cody waved him off, “But Rex, come on. You look at her like the stars shine out of her ass. How the hell did I never see it?”
Rex stared at him in disbelief. “What does it even matter now?”
Cody sighed and fixed Rex with an imploring look. “I’m saying you do everything you can to look after the 501st, all of our brothers. Maybe I was wrong to call out the one thing you did to look after yourself.”
“What, suddenly I have your blessing or something?” Rex scoffed. 
“I don’t give a shit what you do. All I care about is that you take care of yourself. We’ve lost so much. All of us. And we need to fight for something that we believe. Not because we were trained to fight for it, but because we chose to fight for it. It’s what makes us human.”
Rex frowned and looked at his hands, already warring with himself. He opened his mouth to try and find a reply, but nothing came out. He was rescued by his comm beeping - General Skywalker ready to brief him on the next assignment already. Rex sighed heavily, and glanced back at Cody who was still giving him that frustrating, knowing look. If he hadn’t been injured, Rex would have had an urge to slap it off his face. And yet once again, Rex was leaving Cody’s room after a conversation that would stick in his mind.
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The air around the base was tense. One didn’t need the Force to sense that something was about to finally give in the battle for Anaxes. They had been stuck in this stalemate for too long, and now both sides were getting ready for a final push. Rex trusted Echo’s plan to feed false information to the Separatist forces, even if Rex was worried Echo was pushing himself back into action too quickly. Rex would also stand by Echo, no matter how much the Batch seemed wary of his intentions, worried that he had spent too much time working with the Separatists to truly be on the Republic’s side again. Rex knew Echo, knew he’d had no choice in what his mind was used for. But now, he did.
The Batch and Anakin had already boarded the Havoc Marauder, and as Rex turned to join them a voice called out, “Wait a second!”
Rex turned as Talia was running over, a little out of breath. She halted in front of him as Rex stood next to the walkway.
“Aren’t you leading the 412th into the assembly complex?” Rex asked bluntly. Talia frowned, but shook her head.
“Storm has it under control. I figured you all could use some extra support here,” Talia’s tone turned stiff. “Is that going to be a problem for you?”
Rex couldn’t ignore the slight crack in her voice. He sighed and shook his head, “It’s not my call what you chose to do, General.”
Talia pursed her lips but nodded, “Then we best get on our way.”
She sidestepped him and boarded the ship, leaving Rex looking on as he once again found himself berating every little action he took. Just like when they went to Skako Minor, he knew her help was always an asset. And he didn’t want it to be this way, but he was still thinking about his conversation with Cody, and what had happened on Skako.
It wasn’t his place to question her, especially not anymore, but Rex could still feel the terror-filled awe that had overtaken him when he watched Talia take down the tri-droids with lightning. He had seen many incredible things done by the Jedi, but to see that amount of raw power coming from someone he cared about… it was mesmerizing, inspiring, and terrifying all at once. He had always known how powerful Talia was, even when she doubted it herself, but this was beyond anything he could ever have imagined. And what had scared him the most was that Talia didn’t seem to care about the cost it took on her. He saw how the lightning lit up her body, encasing her in a frightening glow, only for her to fall weak to her knees, exhausted and drained instantly after. Rex was a practical man, and Talia was right that a power like that had its use. He just didn’t think it was worth risking anything that could cause her pain.
As he contemplated this, he was only left more frustrated afterward, unable to convey his worry as anything more than irritation.  Especially when it seemed like there had been a chance for normalcy between them again with how they had talked on the mission.
He didn’t want to hurt her, that was never something Rex desired. But he couldn’t resist throwing her words back at her, because even though Rex knew Talia hadn’t meant to be cruel, she had to know how horrible it made him feel. But now he felt even worse for the pain he saw in her eyes, seeing that she obviously felt guilt for the way things had ended between them.
And then there was what Cody said. As frustrated as Rex was by his brother’s sudden change of tone, Rex couldn’t go back on his decision just like that. For all he knew, Talia wouldn’t even want him anymore. Rex had surely done enough to keep her at arm’s length in his own misguided sense of duty, but he also worried he may have lost his chance. Crosshair’s teasing remarks to Hunter still rung in his ears, and he thought of how comfortable she seemed with the Sergeant. It hurt to think that she might have moved on so quickly, but Rex couldn’t fault her for doing what made her happy. In fact, the only thing he wanted for her was happiness.
If only there was time to work out this mess between them before it complicated things on missions even more. But Rex couldn’t ignore the rushing feeling around him, that the galaxy was heading in a certain direction and couldn’t be stopped. He, his brothers, and the Jedi were caught in the middle, ready to crash when this all ended.
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Sneaking onto the Separatist dreadnought went almost too smoothly, something that kept Talia’s nerves on edge. They didn’t encounter any droids on the way to the comm vault, aiding their plans for a stealth mission - even if Wrecker seemed to be tired of all their sneaking around. The vault was a small, circular room lined with wiring and electrical lights, and a tall console in its middle that Tech was rigging an interface in so Echo could safely log in. Anakin was checking to make sure there were no other entrances to the vault, ensuring that they couldn’t be attacked by Separatist troops. Talia held her blade in her hand, twirling it in her hand, ready to ignite at a second’s notice.
Talia was playing things close to the chest with this mission. Storm had already sent her a message conveying that the other Generals were not so understanding of her decision to abandon the plan that she should lead the 412th into the assembly complex, and that she had left Storm to command in her stead. But Talia’s mind was in too many places, and her judgment told her this was the place she needed to be. She could deal with the council later, even though she could guess that she would be under criticism for her rash decisions. 
Once Tech gave the go ahead, Echo scomped into the mainframe, instantly accessing all the data. He intercepted a request from Admiral Trench, which Tech pointed out they would need to reroute the message to make it seem like the call was still coming from Skako Minor.
Talia stepped into the corridor that was leading to the mainframe, giving some space from the small room. They were lucky to have been undetected this long, but Talia knew that luck would eventually run out. She tapped her foot, glancing around as she tried to keep her mind focused.
“You doing alright?” Hunter’s question cut into her nervousness as he stepped up beside her in the corridor.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Talia shrugged off, her voice more curtly than she had intended, earning a raised brow from Hunter. She exhaled, and attempted to sound more at ease. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I’ve just noticed how…tense you get whenever the Captain’s around.”
Talia stopped in her tracks and turned on her heel to face him. “Your enhanced senses can’t work like that.”
Hunter snorted at how she didn’t even deny it, a grin curving on his tattooed face. “They don’t. Anyone with any sense can see it.”
Talia cursed under her breath. “Here I thought we were always good at hiding it.”
“You probably were before,” Hunter shrugged. “But whatever happened between you two…it’s still hanging in the air.”
Talia huffed a laugh at that, it was such a simple observation, but she couldn’t ignore the truth behind it. “You don’t even know half of it.”
“Well, I know one thing; even if you had never told me you had a history with a clone, I would have still known you were in love with him by the way you two go back and forth. In battle, and in conversation,” Hunter stated as simply as if he were recounting a mission. He made it sound so obvious, , as if it were the most natural thing.  “Hell, even the way you look at him when you think no one else is noticing. Same for him.”
Talia let out a mirthless laugh at that, “I think we’re long past the days where he looked at me that way.”
She berated herself for letting that slip. She had already overstepped with Hunter in too many ways to count, but he just looked at her with a somewhat exasperated look. “He’s doing it now.”
Talia frowned and glanced over her shoulder, just to see Rex’s head turn the other way. Talia’s cheeks burned and her heart ached, she couldn’t give herself that hope, even if Hunter was trying to make it feel better.  Shaking her head, she mumbled, “We should check what’s going on.”
Walking back into the room, Rex’s eyes flicked in her direction once more, to Hunter, then back to Talia. His lips flickered to an almost imperceptible frown, something anyone but Talia wouldn’t have noticed. She must be imagining it, though. Interrupting her musings, Tech made a confused noise as he looked at his datapad.
“I’m intercepting a transmission,” Tech said, suspicion in his voice, “Trench is ordering all his troops to the assembly complex.”
“All right, Echo, what are you trying to pull?” Hunter asked doubtfully.
“Don’t worry, that’s what I told him to do,” Echo answered with an assuredness only an ARC Trooper possessed.
“But our troops will be vastly outnumbered?” Rex deduced doubtingly.
“Not when I send the feedback pulse that shuts down all the droids,” Echo explained.
“How do we know that’s what you’re really going to do?” Hunter asked suspiciously. Both he and Tech were sharing a doubting look, as if they had been expecting this all along.
“We have to trust him,” Rex jumped in, frustration mounting in his voice as he tried to placate Hunter and Tech.
“Rex is right,” Talia joined, knowing that nothing would be accomplished if the squad was arguing amongst itself. “If Echo says the plan will work, it’ll work.”
“We’re counting on you, Echo,” Anakin said as he lifted his wrist to call General Windu, warning him that things were going to get a lot heavier for the troops in the assembly complex. Echo returned his focus, and Hunter and Tech seemed to accept that if it was a good enough plan for the Jedi, it was good enough for them, even if Talia could still feel the lingering suspicion on them. Rex on the other hand, didn’t waiver in his trust. In fact he seemed grateful that the tension had dissipated.
“We should be on guard,” Talia said aside to Rex, “With what I know of Trench, he’ll probably be suspicious the second things don’t work out as planned.”
“You’re right,” Rex agreed, glancing down at Echo, “I hope he didn’t play his hand too strong.”
“Keep an eye on things here, I can patrol outside and be ready at the first sign of trouble,” Talia ordered, already turning to the exit.
“What?” Rex asked, following her, “Let one of the Batch do it, I know Wrecker is itching for a fight.”
“And that’s a surefire way for us all to be discovered before anything happens,” Talia joked, earning a light huff of laughter from Rex. “Don’t worry: they won’t see me until it’s too late to do anything about it.”
Rex nodded as Talia turned away, her hilt in hand and ready for action.
“Talia,” Rex called, and she stopped; she had almost forgotten how sweet her first name sounded off his lips. She glanced back at him, his hands clenched at his sides, his brow furrowed as if he didn’t know why he called for her in the first place. He exhaled softly and met her eyes, “May the Force be with you.”
Talia nodded in return, a warmth settling in her, “May the Force be with you.”
The eerie calm of the ship was something that might have unsettled a younger Talia, new to war and battle. Hell, even a few hours ago she would have been more unnerved by the prospect of sneaking around, waiting for the calm to break. But she had to be prepared, she knew this calm would not last. It never did. She hid in the ventilation shafts, out of reach of any droids who passed by on patrol, waiting for any sign or signal that would propel her into action.
Talia’s comm chirped and she answered quickly, hearing Rex on the other side.
“Talia, they know we’re onboard. We’re going to have to make a quick evac,” Rex said rapidly.
“Got it, I’ll clear a path for you,” Talia answered. Sure enough, the sounds of clanking footsteps were starting to fill the corridors. Talia kicked open the grate beneath her and dropped below, landing with a thud and ignited her saber. She held the blade in front of her, the glow lighting the corridor as the steps approached. Talia stood still, breathed in and out, and waited for the first droid to round the corner.
Once they turned, they immediately fired, but Talia was ready, redirecting their shots effortlessly with her saber. The hall was narrow, preventing more than two droids from lining up side by side as they approached. Talia sprinted forward, her momentum carrying her up the side of the wall, and she leapt in the middle of the group of droids. Before they could turn back to fire at her, she tossed her saber at the front group, slicing them in half before calling it back. She twirled her blade rapidly, redirecting the shots the second group was firing at her, slowly pressing forward to make it to the end of the hall.
Blaster fire echoed down the corridor; more droid forces must have corned the rest of the squad. Still, Talia pushed forward, hoping that her presence as a Jedi would call more of the droid troops to her position. 
She sliced droids in half, used the force to crush them into the durasteel walls of the ship. Their shots danced around her, narrowly missing her as she carved a path through them. Her comm beeped, but she ignored the sound as she focused on the droids. Rapid metal footsteps behind her proved her plan worked, as a pair of commando droids stormed towards her. She held up her hand and slowed them with the Force, still using her blade to take out the droids closer to her. As she lost her hold, they sprinted toward her, but she moved quicker, sliding to the ground on her knees and slicing the droids at their calves, making them crash to the ground. The disassembled droids tried to push themselves up, but Talia Force-pushed them backwards, into the pile of miscellaneous droid parts her fighting had caused. 
Talia ran forward down the hall, getting closer and closer to the port the squad had used to enter the ship. Blaster fire still sounded, and she hoped the squad had made it back unharmed.
Another squad of droids found her, and Talia had to give their programming credit for their tenacity. A few more, and this might even grow to be a challenge for her. She raised her blade, ready to strike again when a small round device rolled towards the droids from behind her.
The droid popper went off and the droids crumpled to the ground from the shock. Talia’s blade disengaged as she turned in confusion to see Rex standing behind her, one hand holding a blaster that pointed at where the droids previously stood.
“The rest of the squad is already on the ship, we need to go,” he explained shortly.
“I had it under control,” Talia answered irritably; she didn’t need to be rescued from a handful of battle droids. Rex sighed as he turned.
“You weren’t answering your comm,” Rex said as he stepped away. “And I wasn’t going to leave you.”
Guilt wrapped in Talia’s gut for how harsh her tone was. She quickened her steps after him and grabbed Rex’s forearm. He halted his steps, his helmet locked on where her hand grabbed him as she said, “Thanks…for having my back.”
His helmet lifted and she stared into the back of his visor. “Always will.”
Talia didn’t know what to say. She just nodded, and finally released his arm when she realized she was holding it for far longer than she should have. Rex nodded and turned back down the hall, his blaster raising once more.
It didn’t take them long to reach the Marauder, which dislodged from the dreadnought as soon as they were safely on board. Anakin handed a detonation device to Wrecker, who let out a loud cheer as the dreadnought exploded, and Talia internally echoed his joy: after so much back and forth, it was good to have a victory that meant this siege was over. She stepped out of the cockpit, going to sit in the back of the ship for the quick trip back to base.
“Talia,” Rex’s voice called from behind her, she turned to find him approaching her, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. Talia flicked a simple grin back at him, ignoring the way her gut flipped as he came up.
“For the record,” he started, and Talia tensed, preparing for some other fault he had suddenly discovered in her. But to her surprise, Rex;s hand was scratching the back of his neck, his tone more apologetic as he continued. “I know you could have handled those droids. I wasn’t trying to overstep-“
“You were trying to show off,” Talia interrupted, deciding humor was the best way to dissolve yet another moment of tense awkwardness. To her relief, Rex smiled. “I meant my thanks. You know more than most how stubborn I can get.”
Rex laughed at that, then asked, “So, what’s next for you?  I’m assuming the 412th will be shipped out pretty quickly.”
“I’m sure I’ll be getting orders from the council as soon as we land,” Talia shrugged, not letting herself feel hope at the twinge of something akin to sadness she felt coming from Rex as he asked her, “That is, of course, if I’m not grounded on Coruscant again.”
Rex raised a brow at her, and Talia sighed, biting her lip before continuing, “I kind of went rogue to join you guys here. Storm covered for me, and things ended up working out, but I can bet I’ll be getting an earful about recklessness.”
“Why would you do that?” Rex asked. His brows were cinched as he tried to read her face. For such a smart man, he could be truly oblivious at times. Talia was sure the same could be said about herself.
Talia glanced around the ship, making sure the Batch and Anakin were still otherwise focused before she met Rex’s eyes. “Look, Rex, I know things are complicated between us right now. But I still care about you, and I was worried.”
Rex didn’t say anything, his brows still furrowed as he listened. Talia gulped and couldn’t hold back the words spilling from her mouth.
“It’s just, I can tell how much stress you’ve been under, and I know I haven’t helped with that, but when you went to Skako I had to be there for you in case things with Echo didn’t turn out as well. And today, I was just still so nervous that something would go wrong, and even if you didn’t want me here I had to make sure-“
Talia’s words were cut off as Rex’s lips pressed into hers, her eyes widening in shock but fluttering closed as she melted into the kiss. His hand was placed against her lower back, holding her close to him; Talia had weirdly missed the uncomfortable way that plastoid pressed into her as her body was against his.
Rex pulled back slowly, his eyes drifting open, that soft, warm brown that still made her gut twist in the best way. For a moment, he looked content, then his eyes widened, and he removed his hand from her back.
“I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t-“ Rex shook his head softly but the way he looked at her told Talia that he didn’t believe a word he was saying.
Talia opened her mouth, trying to say a million things back to him. It’s ok. You have no idea how much I wanted that. I missed you.
I love you.
“We’ll be landing shortly, everyone should get seated,” Tech called from the cockpit. Rex pushed away from Talia, returning to the cockpit. She was frozen, still feeling him on her lips and cursing herself for not saying more, terrified that she had lost her last chance.
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Some people hated goodbyes, or at least Rex had heard that in sayings tossed around by natborns. But Rex had always felt differently, mostly because he couldn’t count the number of people he never had the chance to say goodbye to. He couldn’t let himself linger on it, it wouldn’t help anything, but sometimes he found himself wondering what he would say with one last word. But Rex was beginning to understand what the sayings meant, as he watched Echo leave.
He knew it was the right call, that Echo knew where his place really was. It just felt like Rex was saying goodbye to a part of him, even though Echo hadn’t been back for long. But Echo was something to hold on to from the early days of the war, ever since he was that overeager shiny from the Rishi Moon. Just a kid when he joined the 501st, now he was a man forged by the harsh clock of war. And with him left one of the few things that tied Rex to an older version of himself he could scarcely remember.
Rex informed the generals that the Bad Batch had already departed, not being the types for the ceremonies of the medals they had earned. The generals didn’t comment, and Rex stood tall as General Windu handed him the medal he had earned. It sounded egotistical to say, but Rex couldn’t count the amount he had gotten in the last three years. He kept them of course, but he never knew what to think of them. At first there was an honor that came with them, and he still felt that, but now he couldn’t ignore the way he was shrouded by a bit of jadedness. After everything that had happened, this was just another campaign to add to the countless he had been in. He saluted as Windu gave him the medal, but the one thing on his mind was Talia, and wondering why she wasn’t there.
Dusk had quickly settled over the encampment, its golden glow and the harsh shadows casting over the men who already worked to pack up equipment. A small force would remain on Anaxes, as was protocol, but the cog of GAR couldn’t slow down, and most of the forces would be quickly redistributed to wherever else in the Galaxy they were needed. Rex had assumed the 412th would be one of the first groups to set out, something seemingly confirmed by the amount of troops wearing black and gold armor that still hustled around the base.
It was reckless and stupid for Rex to kiss Talia, not just because they were in plain view of Anakin and the Batch, but because he had done it without thinking. His feet carried him across the compound, somehow more determined than his own confused mind as they led Rex in a direction with no idea what course of action he could even take.
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  Three heavy knocks pounding on her durasteel door shocked Talia out of her meditation, or more of her attempt at it. She should be packing; she was heading out first thing in the morning, but when she got back to her room she couldn’t focus on anything. Not the report she needed to fill out, not the fact that she was clearly in trouble with the Council from the tone that Windu and Kenobi had used with her. The only thing she could think about was how she could still feel Rex’s lips on hers, could still feel the pressure of his hand against her lower back, the remnants of his essence tattooed in her memory. She practically bolted to her room after speaking with the other Jedi, trying to rid the confusing moment from her mind to no avail.  So when the knocks sounded, in the way that only he ever did, she stared at the door as if that would will it to open, for she was frozen to the ground and unsure if she could even handle being in a space alone with Rex.
Slowly, she rose from the ground, approaching the door with heavy steps before opening it.  Rex stood on her step, his helmet clutched tightly in his hands, doubt and questioning etched into his face. His eyes met Talia’s, and for a moment she half expected him to excuse himself and turn away, instead he blurted, “Can I come in?”
 With a lump in her throat, Talia nodded and stepped to the side, allowing Rex to enter, quickly shutting the door behind him. It was strange how easily he fit into the room, she was so used to sharing spaces with him that she hadn’t pinpointed how empty her quarters felt without him until this moment. His eyes scanned over the room, shifting his feet uncomfortably as he fiddled with his helmet in his hands. He exhaled, and set it on Talia’s desk, before returning to face her.
“Echo left,” he said with measured words. Whatever he was going to say, that wasn’t close to what Talia expected, and she sensed it was not what he planned on saying first.
“I’m sorry,” Talia offered sincerely, knowing how conflicted Rex must feel about it. “I’m guessing he joined the Batch?”
Rex nodded. “I told him to go, and said that if it was where he felt his place was, then that’s where he belongs.”
“Not everyone’s path is the same one they started on,” Talia said sagely, “After everything Echo’s been through, I’m glad he’s able to choose his own way.”
“You know, it’s funny,” Rex said slowly. “’Choice’ was never something us clones would have thought of. From the moment we’re created, our whole plan is set ahead of us. We train, we fight, and then we die for the Republic. Or atleast, that’s what I used to think. Once I got out here, once I lived, I knew nothing could be so simple, no matter how much my training tried to tell me there was just one goal for me. In fact, the longer I’ve survived, the more confusing it all seems.”
“That’s living,” Talia mused softly, “Even the wisest seers in the Order can misread the future. That’s because there’s no accounting for how people grow, how they can change their minds and their wants.”
“Or how they can be pushed in different directions,” Rex added. He shook his head, then glanced back at Talia. They stood in silence, just the low thrum of the air running through the vents of the quarters, the faded sounds of the camp outside the walls.  Rex shifted his stance, and took a breath before addressing Talia again.
“I had to see you before you left,” Rex started, his words weighted and heavy. “I owe you an apology-“
“Rex don’t-“ Talia interrupted, crossing her arms and avoiding his gaze. She gulped. “Emotions were running high, and that can be confusing enough for anyone.”
“That’s not-, I’m not here to apologize for the kiss,” Rex took a deep breath, “I mean...yes, if it upset you, I’m sorry for that. But I’m not sorry I kissed you.”
Talia’s heart pounded, “It didn’t upset me.”
Rex was trembling slightly as he approached her, as if the weight of all the burdens he had been carrying of late were finally releasing from him.
“I’m sorry I hurt you,” Rex said softly, his voice rough and sincere. “That’s the thing I want least in the galaxy.”
“I didn’t mean what I said,” Talia pleaded, the gap between them closing. “Rex, you know I think so much more of you, of all of you, than that you’re just soldiers-“  
“I know that, “ Rex offered, “I know you too well to think you meant it. But at the moment, it hurt.” 
“I regretted it the second I said it,” Talia continued, “But you left and I realized I ruined everything.”
“You didnt-” Rex took a deep breath, shaking his head as he insisted, “I was the one who fucked it all up.”
“What a pair we are, huh?” Talia forced a laugh before toying with her lip. She glanced back up at Rex, and hesitated before admitting. “We had everything, but it fell apart so fast.”
“We knew it was too good to last.” Rex muttered, but he knew he was lying to himself, trying to comfort the guilt he was feeling.
“Did we? I think I was so blinded, I couldn’t see anything other than you. But then you were gone and…I realized how much of a fool I was…” the words were beginning to roll off Talia’s tongue, faster than her own mind could comprehend what she was saying to hold herself together. “I realized how much I held back and wished I didn’t. How much more we could have had if I hadn’t been such an idiot. Now, when I think of you I’m in pain; because I had something perfect, something amazing. And I lost it because I felt like I didn’t deserve it.”
Rex was silent, and fear crept into Talia that she had admitted too much. That she was speaking to a lost cause, that he had lost any ounce of feeling he once had for her and this conversation was doing nothing but making him pity her. 
“I’m the one who pushed you away,” Rex offered, cutting through Talia’s thoughts. Rex avoided her eyes, as if the piercing gaze would be too strong for him to face as he searched for his own explanation.  “All because I got scared that we could never have what we wanted, that no matter what I felt, it wasn’t possible. You called me a coward, and you were right. Just… after you got hurt, I was so terrified. I couldn’t deal with the pain of losing you like that. And when Cody confronted me, I gave in. Almost as if I felt that if we weren’t together, that it would hurt less than the fear of losing you.”
“Rex,” Talia said softly, lifting a hand to his face. Rex tensed at the contact, and Talia almost retracted her touch, but his eyes met hers and they were those same soft, warm eyes that she loved. She lost her train of thought, any words of reassurance or doubts of herself that she was about to say we lost as she looked into his eyes. Instead, she blurted out words she should have said long ago-“I love you.” 
 Her heart pounded as the words escaped her lips, fear and doubt creeping into her mind as she worried if she lost her mind for even saying it now, the same fear that had kept her from saying it before. But now it was out there and couldn’t be taken back. 
 “I know,” Rex replied softly, stepping so close to her now that barely inches separated them. “I’ve always known. Just like I’ve always known I’m in love with you.”
Talia didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, whether to keep spouting her feelings, dating back to all the times she should have said it before, but she just did the thing that felt most natural to her, which was to pull Rex closer and kiss him. 
Rex’s arms were around her in an instant, holding her tightly against him, his grasp so tight it was clear he had no intention of letting her go. Talia’s hands wrapped around the back of his neck, fingernails scraping against that small patch of skin not covered by his undersuit or armor as their kiss deepened, hard and needy. Rex pushed her back into the wall, the cold durasteel firm against her back as Rex’s armor pressed into her front. She gasped as they pulled back for air, at first overwhelmed by the closeness, but when she saw Rex in front of her, she just felt comfort and longing. She pulled him back in, desperately seeking his lips, moaning into his mouth as his thigh slotted in between her legs. 
The noise awakened something in Rex, and he rushed to start taking off some of the armor from his upper body, his fumbling hands unlatching the pieces as Talia held him for the kiss. He needed to be out of his armor, needed to feel the warmth of her body against his. Talia realized what he was doing and pulled back, freeing her hands so she could help. But Rex’s lips found hers once more as they both clumsily grasped at the armor, dropping pieces of plastoid without a care to where they landed, only separating for air. 
“Wait,” Rex gasped once as they pulled back, his lips swollen but a confused look on his face, before he hesitantly asked. “What about Hunter?”
“You know about Hunter?” Talia asked, guilt and apprehension filling her. 
“I do,” Rex swallowed and nodded. “I’m not upset…at least not with you. I let you go, and that’s the biggest mistake I ever made.  If he’s what you want, I’ll step away now. You’ll never hear from me unless you want to. I’m sure he could make you happier than-”
Talia shut Rex up by stepping up on her toes, cupping her hands on his cheeks and catching his lips with hers. Rex's eyes bugged wide, until they fluttered closed, his arms wrapping around her once more, holding her, taking comfort in the soft warmth of the curves of her body she pressed against the grooves of the remaining parts of his armor.
 “I just told you I love you,” Talia reminded him with a slight, teasing giggle. Her face softened as she caressed his cheek with her thumb, “I slept with Hunter, but it was just so I could try and forget you for a moment.”
“I - really?” Rex asked. Talia could almost laugh at how surprised he was, as if he had already accepted the worst. His face then became more serious. “I…you should know. I slept with someone else too. It was just a one night thing, I haven’t contacted her since.”
“It’s okay,” Talia nodded, ignoring the hypocritical way she was hurt. “It doesn’t matter, we don’t have to talk about that now. Just…shut up and keep kissing me.” 
“More than happy to follow that order,” Rex leaned in with a smirk and kissed her with a renewed hunger, his hands tightly gripping the curve of her hips. Talia groaned into Rex’s mouth as she pressed as close to him as possible, her hands fumbling for the latches on his chestplate. Rex pulled back to help her lift it away, and dropped it to the floor with a loud clunk. With only his lower armor still on, Talia’s hands ran up Rex’s chest, feeling the firm muscles and warmth of him in her grasp. Her fingers clenched around the fabric, using it to pull him to her once more. Rex’s hands slid down her waist, gripping under her thighs and picking her up, making Talia yelp in surprise. 
They stumbled to the desk, Rex clumsily setting Talia on the edge of it, their lips barely separating for air. They were frantic, needy, desperate, as if they were afraid the other would disappear if they stopped. Rex pulled at the wrappings of her tunic, exposing Talia’s heaving chest. His mouth only left her lips then, trailing to the soft skin of her neck, his teeth nipping along the exposed skin and down to the breasts about to fall out of her bra. Talia moaned  as Rex slid her bra cup to the side, and sucked at her now exposed nipple. His other hand slid under the other cup, groping at the soft flesh. The cold air left goosebumps over her skin, contrasted by the warmth of Rex’s hands and mouth. Rex could spend hours like this, slowly exploring the body he knew so well yet hadn’t been able to appreciate in so long. In fact there was little else on his mind at that moment besides what he wanted to do to her just in this state of undress, except he had other ideas in mind. 
Rex lowered to his knees, kissing down Talia’s stomach and dragging his hands down her torso, relishing in the sweet gasps for air that were leaving Talia’s lips. Rex’s hands stopped as he began to tug her pants down. Pink scars lingered  on her hip, trailing down her leg from the flame licked path. He paused, his fingers caressing the slightly raised skin, Talias breath hitched, Rex’s eyes flicked to her face, searching for any sign of discomfort. Talia’s eyes had squeezed shut, enough for Rex to push himself up from where he was kneeling. Talia’s eyes opened.
“I’m fine,” Talia reassured quickly, but Rex was still frozen, searching her face. She pressed a hand to his cheek, “Really, I’m ok. I just didn’t think about them.”
“I didn’t either,” Rex explained, “I just don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t,” Talia leaned in to peck his lips, then checked, “Are you ok? We can stop if you want.”
Rex shook his head, “I’ll only stop if you want me to.”
“Please don’t,” Talia said quickly, earning a smirk from Rex for how desperate she sounded. His fingers toyed along the waistline of her pants where they rested on her thighs. 
“Someone’s needy,” Rex teased lowly, his voice thick as honey, slowly pulling at her pants. “Tell me what you want.” 
Talia leaned back resting her elbows on the desk, offering up a sweet look, “I think you know what I want. And I think you want to do it.”
Rex offered a low noise of agreement, but taunted, “That some Jedi instinct?” 
He slowly pulled the pants down a little further. Talia wiggled her hips, trying to shrug them off, but his hand held her firmly in place. She let out a frustrated noise, but Rex just smirked. 
“Use your words, princess,” Rex ordered lowly. Talia’s cheeks burned, and she felt the pit of desire grow in her gut. She was half tempted to curse him for teasing her, and for how well he knew to play her. But she didn’t want to drag this out, they didn’t have time for a back and forth. 
“Please,” Talia started sweetly, only to get slightly desperate as she ordered, “I want your mouth on me.”
“Hmm, I could ask you to be more specific,” Rex murmured, to which Talia made an indignant noise when he smirked, tugging her to the edge of the desk, making her squeak and falling to his knees. “...But I’m not patient enough today.”
Rex tugged her pants and underwear down with one swoop, wasting no time to press his face between her legs, his tongue swiping over her slit. He groaned at the wetness already there, and Talia moaned as his tongue flicked over her swollen clit. One hand held to the edge of the desk, the other leaping to the back of his head. It took everything in her to not hold him still as she ground against his face; she knew he wouldn’t have minded. But Rex licked at her like a man possessed, like she was the best thing he ever tasted. His hands held her firmly against him, grasping at the top of her thighs as he positioned her where he wanted her. He may have been the one on his knees, but he was the one in control. 
It was surely a talent of Rex’s to have barely started but to already have Talia a whimpering mess. Her tunic was still half undone, her chest still half exposed as a red flush settled over her pale skin. She was biting her lip, trying to restrain her noises in some way but she would fail as Rexs tongue flicked over her clit, eliciting louder moans from her. And all he would do was grin up at her, his eyes almost taunting, before he continued his work. 
His grip was tight around her thighs, nails practically digging into her skin as he held her in place. His tongue slid up and down her slit, teasing her by flicking at her clit in between each swipe. Her breaths hitched higher each time, her body reacting so easily to the simplest touch. Rex knew how to set her off, and there were few things he loved more than making her fall apart with just his mouth. He could feel every twitch of her thighs in his hands, hear how she failed to keep herself quiet, and taste just how aroused she was. He wanted her to feel good, wanted to feel her let go, and he worked as if he had something to prove, that he needed to remind her that only he could make her feel this way. 
He circled his tongue around her clit, then wrapped his lips around it and sucked, sending jolts of pleasure up Talia’s spine. The wet heat of his mouth was intoxicating, Talia could hear herself begging him not to stop. Her arms shook so much she struggled to hold herself upright. But her gaze was locked on Rex’s face and how he devoured her. She couldn’t look away, even as tears sprung in the corners of her eyes and her whole body trembled. It was impossible to tear her gaze away, she was fixated even as she was falling apart. It was almost embarrassing how quickly she was coming undone, but she couldn’t help the way her body was lit aflame from every swipe of Rex’s tongue. He was precise, practiced, as dedicated to bringing Talia pleasure as he was in every other aspect of his life. He didn’t let up as her breath quickened, as her body tensed and he didn’t stop even as she cried out his name and quaked, coming from just the quick work of his mouth. 
Talia’s moans faded, but her breath was still heavy as Rex rose from the ground, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve. He leaned in and kissed her, pulling her off the desk as he did. Talia’s legs were like jelly as she stumbled with Rex to the bed. Her knees hit the frame of the bed and Rex gently nudged her back, causing her to land with a soft flop against the mattress. 
“Take your clothes off,” Rex ordered gruffly, his own hands tearing at the strips holding his remaining armor on. Talia pressed herself up on the bed, still breathless and flushed, but not moving quickly enough for Rex’s liking as he glanced over her, his heaving chest bulging through his undersuit. “Take them off before I rip them off of you.”
“You would just be finishing what you started,” Talia quipped as she gestured to the state of her tunic, still loose around her torso. Rex’s eyes flashed as she still played with the edges of fabric. He stalked to the bed, slowly taking his shirt off; Talia’s mouth went dry as she glanced over his chest, taking in the scarred and muscled form.  He lowered himself to the bed, and slowly crawled on top of Talia. Her heart pounded in her chest as his hands ran up her sides and found the edge of her robes. Talia cocked an eyebrow in a challenge as his eyes met hers. Rex rolled Talia over roughly so she was on her stomach, and her hands braced herself against the mattress as Rex’s hands at the top of her tunic’s back and tugged. With a shredding rip, the fabric pulled off her back and slipped off her arms, leaving Talia in just her bra. She half expected Rex to tug that off as well, but instead his lips met the back of her neck, kissing her softly as his hands deftly undid the clasp. Talia sighed as his lips traveled down her skin, the stubble on his face tickling her. 
For a moment Talia thought Rex would take her like this, that he would shuck his pants off and roughly enter her from behind, pounding her into the mattress as she sheets muffled her cries. And she wouldn’t have minded; her body was coursing with need, prickling with the desire of his touch. But Rex instead gently flipped her over, opposite of the man who had moments ago torn her clothing to shreds. Rex’s lips met hers as soon as her back hit the mattress, a soft, exploring kiss, the moment slowed once again, as if savoring the moment before they delved back into their pure need. But this was what Talia loved about him, how there could be both sides when they were together. The tender with the tough, the smooth against the rough. She could see the switch flip in his eyes whenever they made love, see how his own desire kicked in. But he was always there for her, reading what she wanted and adjusting off her energy. 
The kiss deepened, grew more hungry as they pressed against each other; Rex’s body pining Talia down as she squirmed beneath him, trying to angle her hips so she could relieve some of the tension settling back in her core. Rex ground against her, his still clothed, hard cock pressing against her pussy. Rex groaned into her mouth as he felt how wet she still was, dampening the fabric of his pants. Talia’s hands ran up and down his back, feeling the way Rex’s muscles flexed as he moved against her. Her hands slid down to his waistline, as she tried to nudge down his pants. Rex’s hands met hers as he helped pull them off, rushing to remove them so he could finally have her again. Once they were off, he pressed down against her again, the flame reignited as their naked bodies pressed together, already sweaty and burning with want. Rex’s cock pressed against Talia’s stomach, weeping with precum as he rutted against her, their tongues meeting as they moaned into each other’s mouths. 
“Rex,” Talia whimpered between breaths, “Please. I need you.”
He pulled back slightly as he readjusted, a thin line of spit connecting their mouths. Rex was panting, his eyes blown out as he looked down at her. But he spoke with such an assured, put togetherness as he said in his rough voice,  “Anything for you.”  
Rex entered Talia quickly and forcefully, her breath hitching and her legs spreading wider to ease his access. Rex waited until her body relaxed and her eyes opened, then Talia nodded her head and Rex began to thrust. His hips slammed against hers, his cock thick and hot as it stretched her cunt, her walls gripping around him and practically pulling him in. Rex’s eyes rolled back from the warmth of her, ready to be lost and never come back but he had to last longer, he didn’t want this feeling to end. 
His arms wrapped tightly around her, squeezing her against him in a near crushing grip. Her nails were marking his back as she whimpered beneath him, her breaths punctuating every move of his hips into hers. The room was filled with the loud smack of flesh on flesh, the squelch of their bodies meeting, and the moans and grunts leaving their lips in near unison.
This wasn’t the way this should have gone, it was rushed and needy, with no time taken to care about the little details. They were still dirty from the mission, but the time taken to tidy up might have raised more uncertainty between them than either could stomach just yet. But yet this rushed state was perfection, pure desire coursing through and guiding them, an unstoppable force pushing  them together. 
Talia cried out as Rex’s cock hit a spot deep inside her, making her head bend back in ecstasy. Rex did it again, wanting to see the way her face contorted in pleasure.
“It feels good, doesn't it?” Rex said, continuing to thrust. 
“Yes!” Talia quickly responded, her cheeks flushed. “So good.”
“Who’s doing this to you?” Rex asked, a cocky possessiveness creeping in his tone. 
“You are.” Talia gasped, her eyes meeting his. Rex’s hold around her loosened, and before Talia could whine from the change of pace, Rex’s hand gripped under her thigh and pulled her leg up to rest on his shoulder, his other arm still wrapped around her. His dedicated pace resumed, each thrust like a promise, punctuated with gasps, moans and words escaping lips like a prayer. 
“Who’s the only one who can make you feel this good?” The possessive side of Rex was coming out stronger, as if he had something to prove, or that he needed to hear Talia’s response as much as he knew what it was. 
“You are!” Talia answered. She swallowed, her breath heavy as pleasure crested within her. “I’m yours, only yours.”
“That’s right, you’re mine.” Rex echoed, firm and unyielding. He pounded into her harder, a renewed surge of need running through him. “Mine.”
Rex’s pace continued, hitting Talia right where she needed him. Each thrust was a jolt of pleasure that licked up her gut, so deep she could practically feel him in her throat. She was twisted around him, and he was all encompassing. Their skin was dewed with sweat, their chests almost clinging together as they pressed into one another. Talia would give him anything in this moment, ready to sacrifice all of her as long as he brought her that sweet release. 
“Fuck Rex, don’t stop please.” She begged, cheeks burning and eyes watering. “ I love you.”
“Say it again.” Rex ordered, his pace unfaltering and his chin set, gritting his teeth as if he was barely holding himself together. 
“I love you.”
“Again.”
“I love you!”
Tallia cried out as she came, her breath ragged and her body tensing as Rex lost what last bit of self control he had and he released inside her, hot spurts of cum filling her cunt. Rex’s thrusts slowed, exhaling as he hilted himself inside her. Their foreheads met, sweaty brows and panting breath meeting as their lips barely touched. After a moment that they wanted to last a lifetime, Rex pulled out of Talia and fell to the side, their bodies squeezed next to another in the tiny bed. The space was as small as they were used to sharing, but somehow there was a rightness in the way their bodies fit next to each other, even after all this time. 
“This doesn’t change anything, does it?” Talia asked, still breathless. The air shifted, the calmness that had settled between them now filled with the unknown. Rex tensed, and exhaled a large breath. 
“I don’t see how it can,” was all Rex could think to say. A lump formed in Talia’s throat, tears brimming at the corner of her eyes as she nodded. She rolled over to her side, already pulling off the covers to slip out of the bed and pull her clothes on. Rex’s hand gripped her arm, preventing her from leaving. “Wait, I don’t want-”
“What do you want, Rex?” Talia snapped, “I can’t do this again. I can’t let myself think there’s a chance for something just for you to change your mind. I’m not strong enough to hurt like that again.”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” Rex repeated for what felt like the hundredth time that day. He meant it, but he knew he had failed that promise in the past. And he didn’t want to mess this up again, to cause her any pain, but he didn’t know what promises he could offer her. Rex sat up, still holding Talia’s arm as he tried to work through this.. “I…I know that things haven’t changed in our situation, but I also know ending things was one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made. I want you, Talia.” 
“I want you too,” Talia sighed, leaning back against the headboard. They sat in silence, stuck in the same moment as a million thoughts rushed through their heads. Talia knew there was only one answer to this, at least only one that had a chance to  make them happy. 
“What if I left the Order?”
Rex shook his head, “it was wrong of me to ever ask that of you, it’s not fair-”
“You’re not asking it of me - I’m suggesting it. Rex.” Talia said softly. She looked down at her hands, wringing her scarred wrists as she worked to the realization that has been hidden from her for so long. “I’m not happy. This war has taken so much from me. The Jedi were the only thing I knew, and the only possibility I saw for a future. But Rex…I know so much more now. I know you, that you’re what makes me happy. I can’t lose that again.”
“But you could have so much more than me.” Rex insisted. His hand rested on her face making her meet his eyes so he could make sure she wouldn’t lie to him just to make him happy. “ You could be a Master Jedi, could go on to do great things.”
Talia silenced him by leaning in to kiss him, she pulled back and didn’t let her gaze falter. “Rex - you’re the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me - there’s no more that I need.” 
“But still-”
“Being a Master was never in my cards.” Talia cut him off before he could go on about plans for a different future for her. “ I had a vision about it once, but I think I understand it now. I was always on the outside looking in, never quite fitting in with the rest of the order, or what the council expected of me. But I can find my own path without them. When the war ends, I’ll leave the order. And I’ll be yours, if you’ll have me.”
“You’ll always have me.”Rex answered quickly, a firm promise. “But, what about now? Our situation hasn’t changed.”
“Now is…more complicated. We need to be more careful than before. So. Not really together but…” Talia’s voice trailed off, still not sure what guidelines they could set. Because it was too complicated. She wanted Rex with everything in her, but she couldn’t abandon her men and leave while the war still raged on. And being with Rex while she was still in the Order was too risky now, they’d had too many slip ups already, too many chances that they would be exposed. “Now just…Just hold me, for a few minutes more and we can pretend like everything is okay.”
“We’re not pretending.” Rex said as he pulled her into her arms. His lips brushed against her forehead, lingering there as he continued. “It’s not perfect, but it’s something. I’ll wait for you, whenever you’re ready to leave. I know it’s a big thing.”
“It is, but I think it’s the right thing,” Talia answered. They settled back lower into the bed, a strange kind of peace laying between them. “This mess has to be over soon, so now we have something to look forward to once it’s done.”
“What do you want to do first?” Rex asked tentatively, allowing himself to think of an ‘after’ the war for the first time in a way that wasn’t dimmed by darkness. 
Talia hummed thoughtfully, her lips pursing in before a grin curved on her lips. She glanced up at Rex, a twinkle in her eye as she said, “We should go back to the island.”
Rex huffed out a light laugh, “Better prepared and without the crash landing this time, I hope?”
“Duh,” Talia mocked. She wrapped an arm over his chest, her fingers tracing along the edges of his scars like she had done that first time on the very beach they were talking about. “It’s where we began, it’s where we can start again.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” Rex mused, a lazy half smile on his lips, “How about we meet there, once it’s all over.”
“Sounds like a plan, captain.” Talia pressed her lips to his again. “Or a promise.”
 “Have I told you how beautiful you are?” Rex murmured, his hand cupped on the side of Talia’s face.
Talia thought her cheeks would ache from smiling, that they were burning from the blush that lingered on them. “You might have mentioned it sometime.”
“Not enough, I daresay,” Rex offered with a sly grin. He leaned closer to her, the coarse hairs of his scruff grazing along her neck in a way that sent shivers down her spine even in her exhausted state. He pressed a kiss in the curve of her neck, trailing up to her ear where he whispered once more, “You’re beautiful.”
“I love you so much,” Talia sighed.
Rex huffed a low chuckle. “So that’s all it took? Me calling you beautiful?”
“It’s a fair trade, I think,” Talia teased, lightly smacking his arm. But she set her face straight as she met his eyes again. “I mean it. I love you, Rex.”
 “I love you too.”
He leaned down to kiss the spot just below her ear, repeating his words once more. He trailed his kisses, followed by his adorations up her neck, to her jaw bone, as if tattooing the words upon her skin to leave his mark evermore. His lips traced to the end of her scar, pausing when Talia slightly flinched from the contact against the slightly sensitive skin. His eyes scanned  hers, waiting for Talia’s nod that it was ok, and he leaned in, tenderly kissing over the raised skin, “I love you, Talia.”
Talia sighed, a warmth of contentment filling her she hadn’t been sure she would ever feel again. She curled against him, feeling the warmth of Rex’s skin beneath hers, listening to the thud of his heartbeat. Her lips grazed the scar in the center of his chest, from the bolt that just missed his heart all those years ago. They laid together under that rough spun blanket, in the far too small cot, their arms wrapped around each other, their skin clinging to each other as they didn’t want to leave the others grasp. They fought off sleep, savoring the small moment they had with one another. It had been so long without the other's touch, but that absence only created a craving, a burning desire for the other’s comfort that would never be satisfied. They didn’t have the answers, not completely anyway. This simple impassé would be enough to hold over, to bridge the road to repair what they’d had before. There was the promise of something stronger, the unknown path of destiny and fate a sweet calling. What further doubts they had were buried beneath the surface, vanquished at the broken walls of their greatest barrier. As she drifted off, Rex’s hand brushed over Talia’s back, fingers grazing over the scars she received at the hand of the Zygerrians. The soothing action propelled her into sleep, no nightmares to be had tonight. Her dreams were filled with contentment and comfort, something the promise of a future with Rex held.
--
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arctrooper69 · 1 year
Text
My Cinderella
A series of shorts and ficlets following Fives and his family in an AU in which clones are allowed to have relationships and actual lives outside of the GAR.
Series Masterlist
Beta read by @agenteliix (You da best!)
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New Beginnings
Fives is overjoyed when he learns that he is to be a father. That same realization also terrifies him.
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Warnings: Pregnancy. Talking about being pregnant. Small mention of blood.
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"Cyare, I'm with child." You frowned. standing in front of the mirror, then rolled your eyes. What am I, a frail woman in a holodrama? You pretended to swoon.
You snorted at the attempted comedy, then straightened up and sighed. Try again.
"Hey baby, guess what? I'm pregnant!" You shook your head. Nope that wasn't it either.
"Hey Fives, guess what's for dinner? A bun in the oven!" You moved your arms wildly, motioning to grandly present your stomach in a dramatic Tah-Dah! moment. Nope. That was even dumber than the last one.
What about just plain and simple? You smiled, "Fives, I'm pregnant."
A resounding crash sounded from behind you and you spun around. Fives stood frozen in the doorway.
"You... you're what!?" He blinked slowly, eyes wide as though he couldn't quite believe what he had just heard.
You froze. Saying it to yourself was one thing but telling Fives, that somehow made everything seem so real.
"I... I'm pregnant." You whispered slowly as if just now coming to that realization yourself. "You're gonna be a father!"
Fives stood in the doorway, leaning heavily against the wooden frame, lips slightly parted.
"Pregnant." he whispered, more of a statement to himself than a question towards you. You're gonna be a father.
Was this a trick? Some holofilm you'd been watching? Did Echo put you up to this? His mind raced between all the scenarios in which you might say those words. None of them felt real. A father. How could he be a father? His heart swelled with pride but all the while a tiny voice from within scolded him sharply. Irresponsible. How could you bring a child into all of this?
But then the sheer joy and disbelief.
A father.
A dad.
Maker, there'd be a mini Fives running around. Rex would love that.
You watched him carefully for a reaction. But there wasn't one. He looked blankly ahead as if his entire being had suddenly stopped working.
Your face fell. He wasn't happy. I should've known better. He's a soldier, he doesn't have time for a baby. A thick knot formed in the back of your throat to accompany the burning in your eyes.
Fives looked surprised but his expression soon turned to one of worry.
"No, no baby, don't cry! What's wrong?!"
Too late. Your chin quivered as you tried hard not to let the disappointed tears spill down your cheeks.
"No, no sweetheart!" Fives rushed forward, folding his arms around you.
"You're not happy?" You sniffed.
Fives let out a laugh so sudden and loud that it made you jump. He pulled away so that he could meet your eyes. "Mesh'la, I'm thrilled!"
"Then why..."
The rest of your question went unsaid as he abruptly met your lips with his.
He pulled away,
"I was just kinda shocked, cyar'ika. I mean.... Me. A dad."
You looked back up at him and couldn't help but giggle. Fives grabbed your hand helping you around the catastrophe on the floor, then paused in confusion as you suddenly jerked your arm from his grasp.
"Fives! You're bleeding!"
"I...what?" He followed your alarmed gaze down to his left hand that was indeed steadily oozing blood from a gash in his palm. "Oh...oops." The two of you surveyed the mess of broken plates on the floor. He winced, looking guiltily back up at your face. You raised an eyebrow, motioning to the smashed dinnerware.
"What was all that stuff for anyway?"
Fives scratched the back of his head, "Uh, well, the old lady next door stopped me and said you might like them. I guess they were supposed to be a present, you know, for the baby or something." He bit his lip, "Sorry, Mesh'la."
You giggled. Granny Em, as you called her, was the first person you told when you found out that you were pregnant. You didn't find much use in fancy dishes but she was so kind to you and you didn't want to refuse her loving gift - not that it mattered now.
Fives groaned as you leaned heavily into his embrace. "I missed you, Mesh'la."
"I missed you too." His lips soon found a home on yours once again. You leaned into the kiss closing your eyes as you felt his hands begin to wander.
"Fives!" You sighed, trying to sound exasperated but the sentiment was quite impossible since you couldn't hold back the growing smile that threatened to overtake your face. "You're still bleeding and it's getting all over my carpet.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" Fives pouted, grabbing a towel from the counter beside him. He rested his chin on the top of your head, wrapping you in his arms again.
You couldn't help but smile before you playfully pulled yourself from his embrace, putting on the sternest face you could muster and grabbed his arm. "Come on, into the fresher with you!"
Fives smirked. His eyes held that mischievous twinkle you'd come to know so well. "The fresher you say?" He waggled his eyebrows.
You rolled your eyes. "Not like that."
He growled and swatted at your butt with his good hand as you dragged him over to the fresher.
"Fives!" You scolded as you pulled out the small first aid kit you kept behind the mirror, slapping it lightly into his non-injured palm. "Behave yourself!" The prickly stubble on his face tickled your lips as you placed a peck on his cheek, narrowly avoiding being sucked back into his warm advances.
"Yes ma'am." Fives salutled you playfully. Now it was your turn to swat at him.
"Hey!" he frowned, "How come you get to do that but I'm not allowed."
"Because," you placed another kiss on his cheek as you guided his injured hand to the sink. "Number one, I'm pregnant. And number two, I'm not currently bleeding all over the sink."
"Yeah, yeah." He teased, eyes crinkling as he winked at you.
****
You sighed contentedly, leaning on Fives' bare shoulder as he cleaned himself off.
"I've missed this."
Fives growled and fell backwards onto the bed taking you down with him.
"I did too."
"I missed you more though." You winked at him. Fives moaned, looping his arms around you so that your head lay on his chest.
"I missed you the most."
You lay in the quiet, enjoying the gentle feeling of being completely at home once again.
Fives chuckled in disbelief, "I still can't believe you're gonna be a mom."
You kissed his chest where you lay. "And you're gonna be a dad."
Fives was silent. You shifted onto your side, leveling to meet his eyes.
"What's wrong?"
Fives sighed. "I just....I never had a father." He scoffed, "I dont even have parents at all!" He met your eyes, then looked away as if he was embarrassed. "What if..." he spoke so softly you could hardly hear him. "What if I mess up? What if I can't be a good dad?" His voice wavered, broken in a way you'd never heard from him before. "It's just... I'm a soldier, babe. A clone soldier at that. They'll send me out wherever they want. And... And what if -"
"Oh Fives," you whispered softly cutting him off, gently resting your forehead on his. "It's okay to be scared. I'm scared too. Having a kid - it'll be something we have to learn together. This is all new to me too."
He lifted his head meeting his lips with yours. "I know, Mesh'la. I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry. We'll get through this together and tackle any problems if they arise." You kissed him softly. "I know you'll make a wonderful dad."
"And you'll make a wonderful mom."
--------------------------------------------------
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wild-karrde · 8 months
Text
In Command - Part 14
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Master List | Previous Part | Next Part
A/N: If you saw me just post this without a header, NO YOU DIDN'T. Can't lie, I've been gravitating towards writing this fic a lot more lately, so I HOPE YOU ENJOY because I've just been having a ball (sorry in advance for the angst). As always, thank you to the wonderful @teletraan-meets-jarvis for beta-reading for me!!!
Chapter Rating: T
Warnings: mention of injury, language, LOTSA ANGST
Word Count: 8.9k words
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The transport from the capital was deafeningly silent aside from the hum of the engine and the occasional cough, sneeze, or snore from one of the handful of other passengers onboard. Since it was mostly empty, Senna had chosen to stretch out across an entire row of seats, leaving Rex to find a seat for himself. He opted for the row of seats directly across from her, hoping that was enough distance. 
“Please don’t ask this of me.”
She was leaning against the window with her arms crossed and eyes closed, clearly trying to sleep, but the pinch between her brows gave away the fact that she was still very much awake. Rex hated that he knew that. 
He was at least glad that the blaster wound on her abdomen didn’t seem to be making her terribly uncomfortable. 
At least not any more uncomfortable than I’ve probably already made her.
He’d always known it was a possibility that she’d say no to him, but he’d allowed his optimism to run unchecked, giving him unfounded confidence that she wouldn’t. Even now, his mind whispered to him that there was still a chance. 
She doesn’t think we can do both. Keep fighting and be together.  
He couldn’t deny that her logic was sound, but for once, he didn’t care about being logical. He’d spent all of his life worrying about risk and odds and whether something was a good idea or not. For once, he wanted to be a little reckless, to toss caution to the wind in favor of something he wanted. 
But she had said no. And he would respect that. No matter how much it twisted his heart. No matter how sure he was that she felt the same. She’d said as much. 
“I can’t love you and do my job.”
“Please don’t ask this of me.”
The implication in that statement was clear; she was trying to do what she thought was right. Her reasoning and her sense of duty had gotten her this far, and he understood her hesitancy, even if he hated it. He was a threat in her mind, a threat to her place in the rebellion, a threat to the only stability she’d known since the end of the war. And he’d never dream of taking that from her, but he also understood he couldn’t account for every variable. He had wanted to tell her that leadership wouldn’t care if they were together, but that wasn’t a guarantee he could make. He wanted to argue more that they deserved this, that they could make this work, but could they? Was she right?
Don’t we deserve this? 
His own words and arguments echoed in his mind. He’d lashed out, and she’d retaliated. He had to at least credit her with being firm in her stance while not taking any cheap shots, despite the emotional toll the conversation had clearly taken. Rex knew he’d taken a swipe at her with the remark about attachments, but he’d been hurting, and the way she’d squared her shoulders, as if she knew it was coming had only made it feel worse. She knew him as much as he knew her. In fact, he was almost certain she knew him better than any of his brothers ever had. Sure, Cody had learned to read Rex’s mannerisms and Fives could see when he was troubled, but Senna knew his heart in ways no one else had. 
His eyes drifted over to her again as she shifted in her seat, clearly trying to will sleep to take her through sheer stubbornness, and he fought the urge to smile at her. She sniffled quietly, rubbing at her face before readjusting and crossing her ankles over one another, the toes of her boots dangling in the aisle. She scratched at the bacta patch under her shirt. He wanted to go and cover her with his jacket, to let her lean on his shoulder instead of the cold, hard metal of the window frame. 
But she’d said no. And before he’d loved her, he’d respected her, and that wasn’t going to change now. Part of that respect included accepting her decision, even if he thought she was wrong. Even if he didn’t believe her. Even if he thought there were hundreds of ways they could make it work. 
She’d said no. And that would be that. It had to be.
The hours dragged on, and it felt as though the aisle between them widened with every passing second, pushing them further and further apart. Rex filled his time checking the news holos on his datapad, trying to distract himself from the woman sitting across from him. He was slightly relieved that the incident in the market had been officially chalked up to an altercation with a desperate thief gone awry. A rough sketch of Senna’s mask was attached to the bulletin, along with a vague description. Rex chuckled to himself as he read it. 
Force sensitive individual, likely a Jedi, so treat with extreme caution. Likely armed. Slightly less than two meters in height, estimated weight of 90 kg. Human or humanoid, thought to be male.Injured by blaster shot to the chest/abdomen. Likely accompanied by an accomplice, although no physical description is available. 
Of course they had to make her a man. Couldn’t have Fisk’s fragile ego damaged by someone smaller than him and female. Also, ‘thief’ sounds better than ‘rebel spy with dirt on an officer’. At least they didn’t get a clear look at me, I suppose.
He had no doubt Fisk had doctored his account of what had happened, but he also wasn’t certain if that made him more or less dangerous. The fact that they’d included her Force sensitivity made him nervous. It was clear they were painting her as a desperate fugitive in the hopes that the public would turn her in without hesitation. 
They know a Jedi is here. A high-value target. That makes things more complicated for us. 
When the transport finally groaned to a stop at their home port, Senna popped out of her seat immediately, slinging her rucksack and one of the other bags across her back and striding down the steps without so much as a glance at Rex. He watched her go before heaving a sigh, grabbing the remaining bag and trailing behind her. 
The walk back to their dwelling was quick, and when they arrived, Senna bounded up the stairs wordlessly. 
“Sen.” Rex’s voice sounded rough from hours of no use. 
She paused at the top of the stairs, looking down at him from under her hood. He couldn’t make out her expression in the dark, so he charged forward with what he wanted to say. 
“I’ll leave Organa a message that we made it back. We can talk about next steps in the morning.” 
She bobbed her head in acknowledgement, seemingly waiting to see if he’d say anything else. 
There’s so much more, but where to even begin? 
She didn’t give him another moment to think, turning on her heel and disappearing into her bedroom. The door clicked shut behind her. 
Rex stood at the bottom of the stairs for a few more moments, rubbing his thumb along a scratch in the banister’s wood. He didn’t think she was angry with him, but he almost wished she was. It’d make the silence more bearable. After a few moments, he heaved another heavy sigh before trudging to his room. 
Pushing the door open, he dropped his bag on the floor to be dealt with in the morning, kicking his boots into the corner. His back was sore from the uncomfortable transport seat, and it felt as though exhaustion had practically seeped into the places between his muscles, weighing him down further. His bed, albeit empty, had never looked so inviting. 
As he bent down to undo the blaster holster on his thigh, he noted a red blip of light out of the corner of his eye. He turned. 
The commlink on his nightstand was blinking. 
Rex’s breath hitched in his throat as his blood roared in his ears. 
Ahsoka. 
The holster on his hip and his fatigue forgotten, he charged across the bedroom, sitting heavily on the bed and snatching the commlink off of the nightstand. His hands shook as he read the display. The message was dated two days before. 
Just checking in. Been a while. Call when you have time. Nothing urgent. - Snips
She’s alive.
Rex let out a shuddering breath that was almost a sob, cradling his head in his hands. He hadn’t realized until this very moment how worried he’d been for her, how much he’d tried to push it to the back of his mind. But she’d used the codename as an indicator, just like he’d taught her, and that meant that she was fine, that this really was just her checking in. If she’d signed it with her real name, it would seem innocuous to anyone with her, but he’d have known she was in trouble, and he wasn’t sure if he could have handled that at the moment. 
She’s alright. 
He chuckled quietly to himself as relief flooded through him, his thumbs already typing out a response. 
It has been a while. You awake? Not sure what time it is where you are. Can talk now. - Fulcrum
When Ahsoka had left, she’d given him this frequency, one that she and Anakin and a few others had used during the war. She was certain no one else had it, and the ones that did likely weren’t using it anymore. So far, it seemed she was right, but even so, they’d taken precautions, using codenames chosen to hide their identities. Only a few people had known Ahsoka as Snips, a nickname given to her by Anakin, and Rex had just adopted the codename from the frequency, as much as Ahsoka had pushed for more whimsical options. 
The commlink in his hand vibrated almost immediately, and he nearly dropped it in his haste to answer the incoming call. Finally, he managed to find the correct button to open the link.
“F-Fulcrum here,” he stuttered out, holding his breath for her response. 
“Hey Fulcrum. Snips here.” Her voice felt like a warm hug, and Rex had to dig his teeth into his lip to keep from crying. He’d been holding himself together so tightly, but something about hearing the young Togruta he considered to be his little sister on the other end of the link nearly broke him. 
“It’s good to hear your voice,” he croaked. 
“You too, Rex,” she replied, dropping the codename. 
“None of that now,” he chided, ignoring the pull of the familiar in his chest. As much as he wanted to talk with her as if everything was fine, as if it was all normal, he couldn’t risk it. “Don’t know who could be listening.” 
“You’re such a stickler for protocol,” she teased. That was familiar too, but for different reasons. 
“You’re not the first person to tell me that,” he joked, trying not to think of Senna.
“You sound tired,” she noted. “You alright?” 
Hell no, but I’m better knowing you’re safe.
“Had better days.” 
“Why don’t you tell me about it?”
“This a social call?” 
“Yeah. Kind of. Missed you.” 
He ran his hand through his hair. This was the first time he’d heard from her in almost a year, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to spend it regaling her with details of his failed romantic endeavors. “You could always come back. Harder to miss me that way,” he joked. 
She sighed. “Not quite there yet. I’m sorry.”
His chest tightened. “S’alright. I understand. I know you need time.” He flexed his fingers. “Can I at least ask where you are?” 
“Raada for now,” she answered. “We’ll see if this one sticks. It’s quiet here.” 
“Safe?”
“Am I ever?” 
“Not putting my mind at ease much, Snips.”
He could practically hear her smiling. “I’ve never been good at that either, if we’re both honest.” 
“I suppose that’s true.” 
“So, can you tell me what you’re up to these days?” she asked. 
Rex laid back on his bed, his eyes drifting to the ceiling, picturing Senna in her bed upstairs. “I’m on a mission. Been on it for a while. Outer Rim, but I don’t want to say more than that.”
“Got it. You alone?”
“Nope.” 
“I sense there’s something you’re not telling me.”
He sighed. “Sense that, do you?” 
“Oh come on, Fulcrum. We’ve known each other long enough. I can tell when you’re being purposefully vague.” 
“I don’t think the words purposefully vague have ever been used to describe me before,” he dodged. 
“Then I’ll put it more bluntly. You’re a terrible liar, Rex.”
“Snips-”
“So who is it?” she asked, ignoring his scolding tone. 
He scrubbed his hand over his face, debating as to whether Senna would want Ahsoka to at least know she was alive. He replayed the memory of Empire Day, the relief in her eyes when he told her Ahsoka had escaped. That moment clarified it for him, confirmed what he suspected she’d want. He hoped she’d forgive him later for not waking her, but he selfishly wanted this moment with Ahsoka for himself. Hopefully, there’d be time for the two of them to reconnect later. 
She’d want her to know though. Just gotta be careful.
“She’s someone you know,” he started. “And it isn’t like that.”
“We’ll debate that later. How do I know her?”
Rex chewed the inside of his cheek as he chose his words carefully. He really wanted to believe this frequency was completely secure, but he couldn’t be too careful.  Especially not with Ahsoka and Senna’s lives at stake. 
“Do you remember a technical specialist your other brother knew? One with long brown hair and blue eyes? That you had to frequently visit in garages and haul out from underneath ships or speeders?”
The way Ahsoka lightly gasped on the other end of the line made it clear that she realized who he was referring to. She was silent for a moment. “Are her jokes still terrible?” Her voice was pitched slightly differently, caught somewhere between relief and excitement.
“The worst,” Rex confirmed, his own voice suddenly tighter. He wiped at the tears blurring his vision. “As is her caf. She makes some pretty good noodles though.” 
“All she eats is noodles.”
“She’s branched out a bit.” 
Ahsoka chuckled. “So you fell in love with her? Is that what I’m understanding?” 
Rex exhaled sharply. Ahsoka was one of the few people he still had from before, the closest thing he had to family outside of his brothers. And honestly, he wanted to talk about it with her. “Something like that,” he said softly. 
He could hear her hesitation on the other end of the link. “But it didn’t work out?”
“It didn’t,” he confirmed. “Just not the right time.”
“I’m sorry.” Her voice was sincere. 
“Me too, kid,” he sighed. “Me too.” 
Senna swore through clenched teeth as she pulled the used bandage away from her abdomen. It had been three rotations since they’d returned from the capital city, and ever since they’d gotten back, Rex had spent most of his time avoiding her. If she was honest, she hadn’t made any effort to change that. She didn’t feel like she had any right to. 
Unfortunately, that meant she had to change the dressings on her wound herself, a daily task that only seemed to annoy her further. The rate at which she was healing was far too slow for her liking. Before the end of the war, she could have gone down to a medbay and gotten a stronger salve or even hopped into a bacta tank for a quick soak, and her blaster wound would likely have healed within a few rotations. Now, she could see the edges of her skin around the wound just beginning to heal with some of the angry redness receding. It still smarted to all hell, and she was tired of the lingering throb. Her heart was aching enough as it was. 
She missed Rex. He spent most days out doing reconnaissance or writing reports in his room on his datapad. Neither of them had made any extra effort to be around each other. A heaviness had fallen over the dwelling, and the distance between them had never felt greater. It didn’t help that Rex had reported what they’d learned about Ilum to Senator Organa, and no one seemed to be taking it seriously. Or at least, in her opinion, not seriously enough. 
Especially not after everything we went through to get that information. 
Overall, the leadership, whoever they were, had felt that the concept of harvesting an entire world’s worth of kyber was “far-fetched” and “unlikely to actually occur”. In their eyes, the Emperor’s concerns lied elsewhere, particularly in quashing small uprisings that were popping up across the mid rim, and with the rebellion’s limited resources, they had to focus on more “real” threats which had only frustrated her more. 
As if the Empire hasn’t already shown it can subdue dissidents while causing twelve other problems at the same time. The Emperor won’t let a few small distractions deter him from getting what he wants. And if he gets a superweapon in his arsenal, one that can bring the entire galaxy to its knees, then we’ve already lost. How can they not see that?
It didn’t help that their mission also hung in the balance. Organa’s response the day after they’d returned had conveyed thinly-veiled disappointment and a desire to re-evaluate whether their presence was still useful on Lothal, especially since the Empire now knew there was a Force user on the planet. 
So, they waited. 
The two of them still normally sat together for one meal a day as if the refusal to acknowledge a line had been crossed would somehow salvage things, but they normally ate in silence. There was occasionally idle chatter that they’d try and force before Senna would slink off to the shed or up to her office while Rex would return to his room. Since Organa had placed them in a holding pattern while their operation was reviewed, there wasn’t much else to do. The silence appeared to indicate they would likely be moved from Lothal before terribly long as the mission had seemingly run its course, and no other promising intelligence leads had materialized. 
Senna wasn’t sure if that’s what she hoped for or not, but what she was certain of was that she couldn’t stand being in this close of a proximity to Rex in their current state. It was torture. 
Maybe it’d be better to be done. To start over somewhere else. Alone. 
She hoped there’d be another mission for her, although she worried that their debacle in the capital city would make the leadership hesitant to reassign her anywhere new. 
It wasn’t our fault. It was the right call. The opportunity was too good to pass up, even with the outcome. 
Whatever happened next, she was certain Rex wouldn’t want to be with her, and she couldn’t blame him. The first night they’d returned, she’d heard him speaking quietly to someone in his room when she’d come down for a glass of water, and she’d assumed it was Organa. 
Likely asking to not be placed with me. Or perhaps telling them that I was the one that pushed for the meet with Fisk. That it was my mistake.
She’d felt a flash of shame at that thought. Even with how distant he was right now, Rex would never do that to her, never throw her to the wolves. He was too good of a leader for that. No, if anything, he’d take the blame for the whole thing. 
Because that’s just how he is. 
Still, she’d briefly considered pressing an ear to the door, but she wasn’t certain she wanted to hear what he was saying, no matter who he was talking to. She regretted that thought too, adding it to the long list of regrets she had, chief among them being how badly she’d hurt him. She’d never wanted to do that.
You should have stopped it from the beginning. 
But even now, she wasn’t certain where that beginning was. They’d come together so easily, especially after Empire Day. When she’d revealed her secret to him, he’d immediately trusted her, even knowing she’d been lying to him for weeks. He had rewarded her trust with the same level of honesty. She didn’t doubt that he meant it when he said he hadn’t told anyone else about Ahsoka, and she didn’t take his confidence in that moment lightly. And then they’d just been them. It had all been so easy, felt so natural. And then she’d let it go too far. 
Still, she thought about his words often. 
“We choose to do this, put our lives on the line and stand up for what’s right, and you think we don’t deserve happiness because of that? If anything, I’d say we’re more deserving of it.”
What if he’s right? 
How could she and Rex possibly work though? What, were they going to be the star-crossed lovers of the rebellion? She scoffed out loud at the thought.
Ridiculous. 
There was a time and a place for love stories, and it wasn’t in the middle of a war. That only happened in those ridiculous romance novels her friends had traded as teenagers in the temple, giggling to one another and swooning over the heroes and their love interests. 
It feels like I’ve been in a war most of my adult life. 
In reality, the war had only lasted three years, but Order 66 felt like a lifetime ago, and to some degree, it had been. The current version of herself differed so drastically from who she’d been as a Jedi, it was almost as if she had died that day. She had never planned to have someone in her life romantically as a Jedi, and that had been fine then. Sure, she’d had crushes on people at the temple, but they’d been nothing but silly infatuations that she’d been able to brush aside. Her first kiss had been with a friend as teenagers, just to see what all the fuss was about. Her heart had fluttered slightly when their lips had met, but the two of them had fallen into a fit of giggles almost immediately, resting their foreheads together. Ultimately, they had both agreed that it had been silly, but she still held the memory close.
She’s probably dead now too, Senna thought. Just like everyone else we knew. I just hope it wasn’t Bly that did it.
She had looked for a partner after Order 66 in all of the wrong ways. Then, her pursuits had been for someone to make her feel whole again, to fill the gaping void in her heart that grief had torn. But that had always been destined to fail, and ultimately, she gave up when she realized that. 
And then she’d met Rex, and now everything was tilted on its axis and the ground beneath her feet felt unsteady. She’d wanted to remain broken, thinking it fueled her, but he had flooded between the cracks in her soul, helping her pull herself back together. Rex had carefully guided her away from her grief and pushed her forward on her own two feet. It wasn’t that he completed her; he treated her as though she was already whole, as marred by her past as she was. He didn’t view her imperfections as something to be smoothed over, but rather, something to be embraced and celebrated. 
Because that’s what you do when you love someone. It just took you this long to realize that.
And then you told him no. 
Senna sighed, pressing the new bacta patch over her wound and wincing slightly. She still believed it was the best way to keep Rex safe, and she couldn’t have his life on her conscience. He had to know she’d killed some of his brothers in her escape, maybe some he’d even known. She couldn’t be responsible for his death, even indirectly. She wouldn’t survive that. 
Her eyes drifted to the carved wooden box still sitting on her desk. It had collected dust in the last few weeks, which she carefully brushed off. The dust particulates danced in the waning sunlight trickling in through the room’s window. 
I felt it that day. Just for a moment. 
Senna studied her fingers and hand, the hand that she’d reached out towards Fisk, pushing his arm skyward when he’d raised his weapon. It had been so brief, but in that moment, the familiar warmth of the Force had been there, right when she needed it. She hadn’t been practicing much with everything that had been happening with her and Rex, but even when she’d tried in the shed, her connection had almost felt like a sputter, stuttering and uneven like there was interference or static on the line. But in that moment in the market, she’d felt the Force around her as if the barriers she had put in place didn’t exist, and she’d reached out reflexively and pushed. It had been small, but it hadn’t been nothing. She flexed her fingers as she glanced back at the box. Slowly, she reached out, tracing the carvings on the lid before allowing her fingers to undo the latch and flip the lid open for the first time in a year. 
Maybe it’s time.
The sunlight glinted off of the engraved hilt of her lightsaber, causing her breath to catch in her throat. She’d spent hours etching the hilt with circuit board-like traces and filigree, and her fingers ran along the grooves lightly, the metal cool against her fingertips. She was suddenly overcome with the urge to grasp the weapon, to feel its familiar weight in her hand once more. She thought of the first time she’d ignited it, how she’d smiled triumphantly as the ice blue blade had illuminated the space around her. It had felt right, natural, like every atom in the universe had aligned for this moment to happen.  
Like when you’re with Rex. 
She shook her head to clear the thought, ignoring the sting of tears in her eyes. Hesitantly, she allowed her fingers to creep around the hilt, the curve of its circumference fitting perfectly against her palm. As she lifted it out of the box, the memory of the last time she’d held it flooded her mind. 
Kashyyyk. Screams. Death. Deflected blaster bolts burning through plastoid into flesh. 
The smells from her nightmare filled her nostrils, and the way she’d pleaded with the clones, her friends, to stop shooting echoed in her ears. She’d tried to send as many blaster bolts away from them as she could before realizing it was a lost cause. She remembered the screams as she sent a few of the blasts back to their origins, burning through the clones’ armor as she turned and ran. Her pulse quickened and her breathing became more strained as she quickly dropped her lightsaber and pulled her hand away, snapping the box closed. 
Not yet.
Senna doubled over, her elbows digging into her knees as she hid her face in her hands. 
I haven’t felt this lost in a year. 
Her datapad pinged with an incoming message. She glanced at the screen, noting the familiar frequency. Sighing, she picked it up, her eyes flicking over the words on the screen.  
Hope the honeymoon went well! Having a dinner party at our place tomorrow night. Would love to hear all about it then if you can make it! - Zea
She sighed, tapping out a response as she steeled herself for the trek downstairs. 
Rex knew he spent too much time shut away in his room, but it was one of the few places that didn’t seem littered with evidence of Senna. Her used caf mug on the counter in the kitchen, the lingering smell of sandalwood on the couch, everything seemed to remind him of her and how he’d managed to kriff everything up. He knew he should go and talk to her, but she seemed eager to avoid him, and the last thing he wanted to do was push her further away. Guilt swirled within him, amplified by the fact that he still hadn’t told her that Ahsoka had contacted him. He knew she deserved to know, but at this point, he didn’t know how to tell her without it seeming like another betrayal. His confidence in how she’d respond to him was shaken from what had happened in the capital. 
So instead, he stayed in his room, waiting to be told what the next move was. 
To distract himself, he’d started searching for his brothers to see if any surviving clones may still be out there. In the depths of his mind, he wondered if he was trying to make himself feel less lonely, to fill the place that he had thought Senna might fit. But this had always been a part of the plan. Rex had just hoped that she might join him in the endeavor. While he hadn’t discovered anything concrete yet, he’d found mentions of a clone with a cybernetic eye had been spotted in the outer rim, a record of a captain had been arrested on Ryloth, a forum post swearing they’d seen a clone with a curving facial scar had been seen sneaking onto a transport off of Coruscant. They were all just starting points, bread crumbs to be gathered and pieced together until he had a solid lead to follow. With millions of brothers out there that shared similar scars or injuries, it was impossible to say for sure that one of them was Wolffe or Cody or any of the others he was close with. But even if he hadn’t known them during the war, they were still a brother, still worth tracking down. He poured all of himself into that work, trying not to think of the woman upstairs. 
A knock at his door made him jump, the crack of knuckles against wood sounding incredibly loud in the silence. “Come in,” he grunted. 
Senna quietly stepped into the room, the door shutting softly behind her. Rex kept his eyes down, silently hoping that her intrusion wouldn’t leave any evidence behind. The pillow she’d slept on was just finally starting to stop smelling like her. He’d tossed it in the corner, waiting for the scent to dissipate before he would use it again. Even now, he could feel her seeping into the room around him, embedding herself there like a thorn in a wound. He tried to keep his anguish from turning to annoyance. 
I’m leaving her alone. I’m trying to do this her way. Isn’t that what she wants? 
Senna stood there silently for a few seconds, finally speaking once she realized he wasn’t going to look at her. “Zea reached out.”
“Oh yeah? What does she want?” His voice was gruffer than he intended, but he somewhat hoped it would keep the interaction brief.
He could hear her picking at her fingernails. 
Why is she nervous? 
“They’ve invited us to a dinner party at their place tomorrow night. There’ll apparently be some Imperial officials there as well, but a small gathering overall. I think we should go.”
He finally raised his eyes to look at her. “Do you know which officials?”
Senna didn’t meet his gaze, shrugging. “She didn’t say. Just some people Brak works with.”
“So there’s a possibility Fisk will be there.” 
Her eyes finally met his, and there was a bit of anger there. 
“I suppose. But Brak hates him, so not very likely.” 
“And you still think going is a good idea?” 
“Are you coming with me or not?” Her tone was growing progressively more heated. 
“Of course I’d go with you.” 
“Then what’s the problem?” 
They stared at each other for a moment, and he could see she was silently fuming. Finally, she ran her fingers through her hair, temporarily taming the flyaways that always seemed to be hanging in her face. “Look, you and I both know that we’re about to get pulled. I don’t have to have military experience to have that worked out. So why not try and see if we can glean anything else before that happens? Fisk might be there, but so will other Imperials that might have important information. At a minimum, maybe we can gauge how panicked they are about bumping into me in the capital. Maybe if it’s not that bad, we can use that to argue against getting yanked out of here.”
“Is that what you want?” he asked slowly. “Even after everything that… that happened?”
Her expression softened. “Of course, Rex. I think we can still do good here.” 
His heart twisted in his chest. He wanted to ask more questions, to interrogate her as to why she wanted to stay here with him when it seemed they were both just torturing one another. Instead, he merely conceded. 
“Alright. We’ll go.”
She gave him a small smile. “Ok. Ok. I’ll find something to wear.” She turned, pushing his door back open. 
Before he could stop himself, her name fell from his lips. “Senna.”
She looked back, meeting his eyes. “Yes?”
The words caught in his throat as their eyes met. He wasn’t even sure what he wanted to say. I’m sorry. Please let’s go back to the way things were. I love you. I understand why you think we can’t, but you’re wrong. I’m sorry. His mind raced as he tried to come up with something, but when he couldn’t, he closed his mouth and just looked at her. “Never mind.”
Quietly, Senna turned and exited the room, letting the door shut behind her.
Senna slipped her arm through Rex’s as they stepped out into the cool night air the following evening. His arm felt tense under her fingertips, but she wasn’t certain that she wasn’t imagining it. 
“Ready?”
“Yes.” His gaze was fixed straight forward. 
It wasn’t going to be the same. And you were silly to expect otherwise. 
“Alright then. Let’s get it done,” she murmured. 
Senna could already hear laughter coming from Zea and Brak’s dwelling as they made their way over. The door was open and Zea greeted them as they made their way up the front steps. Her face was gracious as always, but a tension lurked behind her eyes. Senna released Rex’s arm and nodded at him to go in without her, pulling Zea aside.
“Everything alright?” she whispered. “You seem upset about something.” 
Zea nodded hurriedly, her welcoming smile slipping back into place to hide the strain. “Yes, yes. It’s just…Brak was inviting some of his colleagues over, and apparently Commander Fisk was within earshot, and he essentially invited himself as well, so he’s here, and I’m just struggling with that. He’s been absolutely awful since he returned from his conference, and it’s made life difficult for Brak. He was apparently involved in the incident that took place there.”
Senna had known it was possible he’d be here, and yet, she still couldn’t keep the blood from pounding in her ears at the confirmation that he was. She could feel Rex’s eyes on her, gauging her reaction. Willing her face to conform to some sort of concerned expression, she gripped Zea’s arm gently in what she hoped came across as a comforting gesture. “How awful. Is he alright?”
Zea placed her hand over Senna’s, giving it a grateful squeeze. “He’s fairly banged up, but more than that, he’s just been in a very foul mood, and it’s making everything a bit tense. Most of the people here report to him, so everyone’s walking on eggshells.”
Senna nodded, smiling tightly. “It’ll be alright. Let’s not let one person ruin this evening for you.”
Having an ally seemed to lighten Zea’s mood. “Of course, you’re right.” She slipped her hand around Senna’s elbow, pulling her into the house. “Now, I want to hear all about your honeymoon.”
“…and that was the night the aurora was at its peak, so we were fortunate enough to find a spot out among the mountains to make camp. We just stayed up all night watching it from our campsite.”
Rex’s hand was clasped in Senna’s on the tabletop as she regaled the party goers with tales of their recent “honeymoon”. He’d allowed her to take the lead again in the conversation, content to add any commentary in when she directed a question at him. He never failed to be amazed at her storytelling abilities and how quickly she was able to weave details together into a believable account. As he surveyed the rest of the table, he caught Commander Fisk staring at them out of the corner of his eye. Fisk had kept his distance for most of the night, merely shooting menacing looks at Senna when he thought no one was looking. Apparently, he hadn’t gotten over her rejecting him. He was sporting a black eye from his altercation with Senna in the market that was on the mend, and he walked with a bit of a limp, which Rex found incredibly satisfying. He couldn’t help but be proud of the damage she’d done to the Imperial. 
She really landed a few on him. 
Turning his gaze away from the commander, he smirked into his whiskey as he sipped from his glass.
“It sounds like it was an incredible adventure,” said one of the other women at the table. She was an Imperial officer that Rex and Senna had vetted before but ultimately decided wasn’t worth pressing for information.
“It was,” Senna smiled, leaning against Rex’s shoulder. “The best we could have asked for, all things considered.”
Rex heard a grunt from Fisk’s direction and shot him a look that was enough to make the other man avert his eyes.
“And what of your week, Commander?” Brak asked, turning the conversation towards his superior. Rex admired his attempt to engage the man in conversation, despite his contempt for him. “How was the conference?”
Fisk straightened in his chair, attempting to exude some semblance of dignity. “Productive. We were able to discuss a great many topics and proposals that I believe will aid us in our future endeavors.”
“And the large project?” Brak prompted.
Fisk’s eyes darted nervously around the table, settling on Rex and Senna. “I hardly think the company here is the appropriate audience for such discussions.” It made sense for him to focus on them since they were the only ones at this party that were not actively working for the Empire, but it still unsettled Rex. 
Brak laughed tensely. “Apologies, Commander. We’d brought up the project before, and Valla found it fascinating. I’ve heard it discussed openly before, so I didn’t think it would be an issue. My mistake.” He waved his hands in what was likely supposed to be an appeasing motion, but it came across as more condescending than deferential. 
Fisk ignored him, turning to brazenly stare at Senna. Rex couldn’t tell what the commander was thinking, but he knew he didn’t like it. It was as if something had clicked in the man’s brain, and a warning alarm was starting to quietly sound in the back of Rex’s mind. 
“I didn’t know you were so interested in engineering, Valla,” Fisk stated flatly, his eyes never leaving her. 
If Senna noticed that Fisk was suddenly suspicious of something, she didn’t openly show it, sipping from her glass of wine before answering him.“Oh Wen, you know I love talking technical things. I’m just not always good at it, remember?” She laughed lightly, but Fisk’s eyes continued to bore into her.
“And what of the security incident that happened while you were there?” Zea asked, missing the tension between Senna and Fisk as she continued to steer the conversation.
“Oh, it was hardly as large as public rumors would lead you to believe. We managed to shoot one of the assailants and wound them significantly, but unfortunately, they are still at large for now.”
“Should we be worried?” asked one of the other women at the table. “It seems concerning that there would be an organized rebel cell here on Lothal.”
“Not at all,” Fisk said firmly. “We believe that there were only two of them and that they acted alone. Hardly what I’d classify as a rebel cell.” His voice dripped with condescension. “We’re confident that we’ll apprehend them soon enough, and that will put an end to that.”
Brak smiled and gestured at Senna. “See, you two managed to miss all the fun while you were out on your honeymoon. This has been the talk of the town the last few days.”
Senna laughed. “It would seem that way.”
“How long were you two gone for?” Fisk asked, the question setting off even more alarms in the back of Rex’s brain.
“Oh, around a week. We just got back a few rotations ago.”
“Exactly how many rotations ago?” Fisk asked, and the tension at the table grew.
“Alright, Wen, we don’t need to interrogate them about their honeymoon now, do we?” One of the other officers joked, sloshing his drink in his glass. Fisk shot him a withering look, but remained silent after that. 
The warning bells in the back of Rex’s mind screamed, no matter how much he tried to reason with himself. 
He has no reason to think it’s us. The timeline matches up, but that’s it. He’s just looking for justification to pin something on Senna since she rejected him. 
But isn’t that just as dangerous?  
He made a mental note to reach out to Organa as soon as they returned home. As much as it made his heart ache, if Fisk was going to start sniffing around, it was time to leave Lothal. 
Even if it meant he and Senna had to go their separate ways. 
Following dinner, the party moved to the dwelling’s living space as the couples and officers continued to chat while sipping on their various drinks. Rex slipped his arm around Senna’s waist and kept himself between her and Fisk as much as possible to avoid confrontation. She didn’t pull away, which both relieved him, but also, made his heart clench. He understood this was likely going to be their last night together on Lothal, and that maybe, they’d never see each other again. But if Fisk had his way, Senna would surely suffer, regardless of if he was able to prove that she was the Jedi from the market or not. That was an alternative Rex couldn’t stomach. The warning bells were still ringing insistently in the back of his mind as a plan took shape.
I’ll contact Organa and request an immediate evac. Worst case, it takes a rotation to hear back. More likely it’ll be a few hours since it’ll be flagged as urgent. Unless he has a pick-up in-system, which is doubtful, it’s going to take a few rotations for someone to get out here. There’s always the emergency beacon, but there’s no guarantee they’re any closer. And if they’re on a mission–
His thoughts were interrupted as Senna slipped from his grasp, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. He felt the bandages on her abdomen as she moved, just barely perceptible against her skin under the fabric. She’d seemingly been moving with significantly less difficulty the last day or so. Rex of course knew that it would take a while to fully heal due to their limited medical supplies, but he was at least glad to see that she wasn’t in as much pain. He knew she’d gotten lucky with the place the bolt had hit her, and he was grateful for at least that much.
“I think I’m going to go refresh my drink,” she was saying, her blue eyes meeting his. He swallowed hard, trying not to drown in them. “Anything for you, Lon?” 
“No, I’m good. Thanks.”
She smiled disarmingly and moved away towards the kitchen where Zea had laid out all of the open bottles of libations for their guests. Rex watched her go, noting Wen followed her shortly after. He felt his entire body tense, his hands curling into fists. 
Keep calm. She’s not in there alone. He won’t try anything. 
He felt fire burn in his stomach as he tried to pay attention to the conversation going on around him, but the alarms in the back of his mind were beginning to crescendo.
Senna uncorked a bottle of wine she’d been drinking from throughout the evening and began to fill her glass when she felt a hand slip around her waist. She immediately knew it wasn’t Rex, and her entire body stiffened as Fisk quietly spoke in her ear.
“Well, it sounds like you all had a lovely time on your trip.”
She steadied her breathing as she looked around the small room. There were a few other people in the kitchen chatting with each other, but no one had seemed to notice Wen’s proximity to her. She moistened her lips, turning to look him in the eye. “Yes, it was wonderful. A much needed trip for both of us, I would say.” Her smile was forced, but she frankly didn’t feel like smoothing the edges for him this time. 
His fingers dug into her hip, and she bit back the panic rising in her throat. Names were being called from the living space, and suddenly, the people in the kitchen were filing out, clearly still unaware of the tense conversation occurring in the corner. As the last couple exited the kitchen, laughing with one another, Senna felt a cold sweat break out across the back of her neck. 
I’m on my own. 
The prospect was terrifying. She hadn’t missed the way the Imperial had begun probing at dinner, clearly suddenly suspicious of her and Rex. 
He has nothing. He’s grasping at straws.
Squaring her shoulders, she turned to face Fisk, brushing his arm away as she did so. She smiled sweetly at him, but anger licked up her spine. They were not on equal footing, and this time, Senna was determined to not let him think he had the upper hand. The fact that she didn’t immediately cower only seemed to infuriate the Imperial more. He stepped closer to her. Senna didn’t flinch.
“I could tell him, you know,” he practically spat under his breath. 
“Tell him what, Wen? That you and I had dinner a few times and that you misunderstood my intentions? Good luck with that,” Senna replied derisively. She tried to brush past him, but he pressed a hand against her abdomen, pushing her backwards and pinning her against the beverage table. The bottles on the table rattled slightly from her impact. Senna sucked in her breath at the sudden pressure on her healing injury, and she saw a look of confusion cross his face as he felt the bacta patch under her shirt.
Fuck.
He leaned forward, his mouth inches from her ear. “Hurt yourself, Valla?”
Senna’s voice was low and venomous even though she was still keeping her smile in place in case she was being watched. “I understand you may be unfamiliar with how female anatomy functions Commander, but if you must know, I’m menstruating. I experience rather painful cramps, and often have to wear a heat patch to get some relief.” She gripped his wrist tightly. “Perhaps in the future, you’ll opt to keep your hands to yourself and mind your own business.” 
Senna tried to remove his hand, but Fisk pushed harder against the bacta patch. She bit the inside of her cheek as his thumb dug into the wound, trying to keep her face from twisting in pain. Fisk smirked triumphantly. 
“Funny, the patch doesn’t feel very warm to me.”
“Is there a problem here?” Rex asked from behind them, placing his hand on Wen’s shoulder. His voice was quiet, but the threat was apparent.
“Oh no problem at all, Lon,” Fisk glowered. “Just telling your wife how lovely she looks this evening.” He released the pressure on her waist and Senna did everything in her power to not gasp at the sudden relief, staring him down as he stepped back from her.
“Valla, I think it’s time to go,” Rex said firmly. “I’ve got a lot of work to get to in the morning.”
“Oh I’ll bet you do,” Fisk muttered under his breath. 
Senna saw the anger flare in Rex’s eyes, and before she could do anything to stop him, Rex swiftly had Fisk pinned against the wall by his collar, his feet lifting off the floor a few centimeters. The Imperial’s eyes bulged as he grabbed at Rex’s wrists in panic. Senna suddenly had the wild urge to laugh as she watched the fear in his gaze, the sudden feeling of helplessness at the unexpected. It was so beautifully poetic to watch him feel a fraction of what he’d put her through, even if panic was coursing through her. 
“Quiet, wouldn’t want to upset the other people enjoying themselves,” Rex rasped. “Now, I’m going to tell you this one time, so listen well, Commander. You won’t get a second chance. Do you understand?”
Fisk squeaked out an affirmative, nodding his head in confirmation.
“Good. You are to stay away from my wife. I’ve known plenty of men like you in my life, and they don’t survive long when I’m around, so unless you want your Imperial career to be vastly shorter than it already promises to be, you’ll keep your distance and never speak to her again. Have I made myself clear?”
Fisk nodded again.
“Excellent.” Rex released him and he dropped to the floor, barely keeping his feet under him. The commander glared at Rex as he straightened his jacket and fiddled with his cuffs as he made his way towards the kitchen’s doorway. He paused there, glancing back at them. Senna felt Rex step closer to her, his hand slipping around her waist protectively. She leaned into him. Fisk’s lip curled into a sneer.
“You know, Valla is lucky to have such a doting husband. Too bad they can’t clone you.” 
Rex’s fingertips dug into Senna’s side. “Yeah. A shame,” he replied evenly. 
Fisk chuckled quietly, his eyes flicking between the two of them before he slipped back into the living room. 
Rex’s warm hands gently turned Senna to face him. As the adrenaline wore off, she felt her legs suddenly start to tremble beneath her, and she leaned heavily on the table next to them. Rex gripped her upper arm, his other hand still holding onto her waist. 
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“We should go,” she said quietly. “He felt the patch.” She couldn’t meet Rex’s eyes. “I tried to lie. Some bantha shit about it being a heating pad, but I don’t think he bought it. He knows.” 
This is it. The end. We’re done. 
“Sen–”
“Not here,” she hissed. Finally, she glanced up and saw the hurt in his eyes. 
He knows it too. 
“We have to go,” she repeated, swallowing the lump in her throat. “We have to go now.” 
He clearly wanted to say something else, but closed his mouth, nodding. She straightened, taking deep, steadying breaths before she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow and allowed him to lead her out. They made their way back through the crowd, bidding farewells to their hosts. She caught sight of Fisk as they reached the front door. He was leaning against a far wall, watching them from over the rim of his glass. He raised his drink in a toast to her, and she averted her gaze. Rex’s hand slipped over hers soothingly, and she suddenly realized how tightly she was gripping his arm. 
It took everything in her to keep her pace unhurried as they made their way back down the street to their dwelling. As soon as the door hissed shut behind them, she turned to Rex. “We’ve got to get out of here. Now.” 
He nodded. “Start breaking things down. I’ll try to get a hold of Organa.”
“We can’t wait for him, Rex.” 
He ran his hands over his face. “I know. But we have no choice.” She could see him working the problem. “He still has very little proof, so I’m doubtful he can pull together a strike force immediately, especially against a civilian couple.” 
Senna huffed. “You remember the festival? You really think the Empire is going to be that concerned with proof? They don’t give a shit if we’re civilians. If he goes in there claiming I’m a Jedi, they’ll leap at the opportunity. We have to leave now.” 
Rex paced. “We can’t just leave. I have no doubt Fisk is putting out a bulletin with our names as we speak. If we go to a port, he’ll know, and we’ll be arrested immediately. We can’t use a public transport. I’ve got an emergency beacon, but that has to be a last resort. Hopefully, we’ll hear back in a few hours and–” 
“We can’t just stay here,” she argued. 
“Just give me a second to think, Senna,” Rex finally snapped. 
She recoiled. 
He thinks this is your fault. 
“Alright,” she replied quietly. “I’ll go start breaking down my equipment and wiping drives.” Without another word, she turned and walked up the stairs. Rex didn’t say anything else, and Senna felt the hot sting of tears in her eyes. 
He thinks this is your fault. 
And maybe he’s right.
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seriowan · 2 years
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baby talks - dad!rex x mom!f!reader (victory au)
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⭒ summary: in a perfect galaxy far, far away, you wake up one night to come across a precious moment between your husband and your tiny little baby girl. somehow, you find a way to fall in love all over again with just a smile and a little baby's giggle. ⭒ word count: 1.3k ⭒ pairing: dad!rex x f!reader ⭒ cw/tw: tooth-rotting fluff, brief mention of childbirth, parenting, motherhood, talk about having more children, republic victory au ⭒ a/n: i have baby fever. that's it. that's the explanation. this is also 100% self indulgent and rex probably wouldn't do half the shit i wrote in here but I. WILL. KEEP. DREAMING. OF. DAD REX. UNTIL. I. DIE.
-
The bed was empty when you woke. Warm yet vacant sheets greeted your hand when you threw it on the opposite side of the bed. Raising your head at the absence, you paused to listen, craning your ear towards the open door to the bedroom. 
  You were met with silence. Pushing aside the blankets, you kicked your legs over the edge and slipped your feet through your blue slippers, reaching for the navy robe draped over Rex’s reading chair.
Tightening it around your body, you carefully walked out of the room, gentle feet padding silently down the carpeted halls until you stopped outside of a familiar door scented of vanilla and baby powder. It was cracked open just enough for you to hear a familiar voice, deep and rich and spoken in a loving tone.
   “That’s it, cyar’ika. Shhhh. No more tears.” 
   You bit your lip, stifling a smile as you peeked through the doorway. 
   It took every ounce of will to refrain from melting on the spot. Rex, bare chested with plaid pajama pants, lay flat on the ground with your little swaddled baby against his chest. One hand softly rubbed her back while the other playfully pat her bottom to the rhythm of the tune that he was humming. Your daughter, barely a few months old, could barely raise her own head as she toothlessly nibbled on her clenched fist. Rex thumbed away the drool on her chin, gently pinching her rosy cheeks with a dimpled smile on his face.
   “Stop doing that,” he chastised softly, slipping his finger in between her tightly clenched fists. He hummed, pressing her knuckles against his lips as he mumbled,  “Mama’s got to cut your nails. You’re scratching yourself. Heh, means you’ve got a little fighter in you. Just like your uncles, huh?” 
   Your daughter made a whining noise, sputtering past drooled lips. Big golden eyes blinked at Rex before her lips twitched into a small smile, full of childlike bliss that softened your heart in an instant. The lump in your throat was hard to swallow but you remained silent, leaning against the doorway as you continued watching in secret. 
   Rex chuckled warmly when she placed her ear against his chest, giggling as he kissed her small fingertips and blew the soft raspberries into her palm. She let go of his thick finger, sleepily rubbing her knuckles into her eyes before glancing right towards you and smiling. 
   “You can come out now. Your cover’s blown.” 
   You laughed softly, slipping into the nursery just to lay down on the floor besides him. Adoration burned in his eyes as you nestled closely to his side, settling your temple against his shoulder while your finger curled the wisp of hair atop your daughter’s head. She turned to you and smiled as if happier by your presence. 
   “She’s just like you,” you murmured, kissing Rex’s shoulder. “Intuitive. Perceptive.” 
   “Stubborn,” he added with a frown, unfurling the baby’s clenched fists yet again. “And why is she so smiley? She didn’t get that from me or you.” 
   You arched a brow, tipping your chin to give him a pointed look. “No, that’s definitely you. Fives is your brother, not mine.” 
   “Technically-” He grasped your hand and raised it, flashing the silver wedding band on your ring finger. “He is your brother through marriage. But you have a point. She certainly has his humor.” 
   “Speaking of, is he coming by?” You traced circles on the baby’s back, earning a hiccup that made Rex beam as if she had won an award. “He promised to babysit while we go on our date.” 
   Rex cleared his throat with uncertainty, caressing a large palm over your daughter’s small head. He paused before turning to you with an apologetic expression. “I was thinking we go out to dinner tomorrow. I just… I-I don’t want to leave her with Fives - you know how short his attention span is. Besides, Baby’s just a newborn and I… I can’t just leave her.” 
   You arched a brow, lips curling into a sly smirk. “You’re obsessed, aren’t you.” 
   Though he rolled his eyes, Rex didn’t deny the claim as he looked back at your daughter and smiled fondly. 
   “Yeah,” he admitted proudly, poking the nose that mirrored his own. She blinked, drooled, and made a few whines before setting her head on his chest and heartily beating it with a teeny tiny fist. Rex looked ready to burst with love - cheeks flushed red, eyes wide and sparkling like he just discovered something so utterly magnificent. He curtly sighed and shook his head. “Yeah, I don’t know how we’re supposed to watch her grow. I just… She’s so… small… And then she’ll be big.. I didn’t think…I never thought…” 
   “Rex,” you said firmly, causing his lips to shut and his eyes to dart to yours. You saw the worry and frowned, cupping the side of his face, thumb running over the scar on his cheekbone. “It’s okay. We’re here now. You don’t have to think about the things that you didn’t think you’d have because now, you actually have them. Freedom, a family, a baby. The war’s over and we don’t have to worry about dying in battles or spending months apart. We have all the time in the galaxy to watch her grow and thrive with the love of her uncles and family. Let’s just take this one day at a time, ok? Don’t worry about the future now, or you’ll miss her best years.” 
   You touched your baby’s ear, tracing the outline that felt so, so small against your fingertip. Rex shrugged down the carpet and shifted, rolling onto his side to place his tiny twin between your chests. You both propped yourselves up on your arms, temples to your palms as you watched her kick her feet and tiny hands, making small squeaks and grunts. 
   You both shared a laugh. She truly was a fighter just like her father. 
   Attentive on your little baby, you didn’t notice Rex looking at you until you caught a flash of gold in the corner of your eyes. You raised your head, face softening when you saw the same look of love on his face that he wore when he proposed; when you walked down the aisle; when you took his hand after childbirth and told him you loved him through tears of relief. 
   And every single time he gave you this look, you fell in love all over again. 
   …Until you noticed the slight touch of mischief that twitched the corner of his lip. 
   Your face suddenly fell, eyes narrowing. “Don’t you dare ask what I think you’re going to ask.” 
   He sheepishly looked down at the little baby with her blonde tuft of hair and curled a thread of hair upwards. The single strand made you laugh but you were still waiting for Rex to say with flushed cheeks and puppy-dog eyes…   “Another one can’t hurt…” 
   You waited a moment before rolling your eyes and glancing at your grinning little girl. 
   “Hear that, baby? Daddy wants to replace you already-” 
   Rex scoffed and playfully nudged you away with a large hand to your face. You laughed against his palm, biting the skin before he could pull his hand back and faux glare. He turned his head to the little angel that peered up between you two with big eyes and pointed an accusing finger at her, deadpanning with a straight face, “Don’t you dare be like your mother. I’ll send you to bootcamp.” 
   You gasped, gently picking her up to place her tummy on your chest. Her small head wobbled as she shakily moved her head, but she held your gaze with a smile on her lips as you said, “He just wants someone to talk to about serious stuff and serious things. Mommy’s the fun one, isn’t she, precious?” 
   Rex’s grin became wolfish, eyes flashing with a brilliant playfulness. 
   “I can be fun,” he growled before leaning his head in the crook of your neck, blowing the largest raspberry that sent tingles down your spine. You howled out with laughter, causing your baby to mimic it from pure delight, eyes flickering back and forth between her parents. You caught the strange look of understanding in the small baby’s face and looked at Rex, arching your brow. 
   “Maybe another one wouldn’t hurt.” 
-
tagging moots who might like this <3
@rexxdjarin @eloquentmoon @a-c-lee @frietiemeloen @misogirl828 @leotatombs @corona-one @pinkiemme
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rexmeshlasblog · 11 months
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Don’t get me wrong
Captain Rex x Jedi Reader
Summary: Rex gets jealous because his General is, in his opinion, a bit too much hanging out with his brother Fives.
Word count: 1500
Warnings: feelings, fluff, mentions of war, use of Y/N, fmc, mentions of loss, intimate moment, jealousy, cheeky Rex, anger, a bit angsty maybe??
A/N: Second one shot and I’m really excited what y’all think. Enjoy!
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“Stop it, Fives”, I laughed while we were walking through the barracks of the cruiser.
“Maybe you should stop telling these stupid stories”, he answered while he nudged his elbow in my ribs.
I told Fives about how I first met Obi-Wan and Anakin the other day and that I almost punched Anakin in the face. Anakin was just so kricking rude and something inside of me liked the idea of punching him right into his face. To wash away that stupid grin of his.
“I can’t believe you almost punched him.”
“So do I. In that moment I also weren’t able to think that he would become one of my best friends”, I smirked back at him.
Fives put his arm around my shoulder, lowered his head to mine as if he wanted to tell me a secret, but before he could say a word we walked around a corner and standing right there was Captain Rex. Arms crossed and with a stoic face. A deep furrow was in between his eyebrows as he glared at us.
“Hey Rex”, I greeted him. Trying to get him into a better mood, but it quiet didn’t work. It didn’t work even a tiny bit. It just seemed like his mood was getting badder.
“You alright?” Rex didn’t look at me he was just glaring daggers into Fives who gulped and nervously put his weight from one foot to the other. What got into him?
“The General wants to talk with you”, was all he said more towards Fives, than me, but I knew I was meant.
“I’ll go to him in a few minutes.”
“He wants to speak with you now.”
“But I speak with Fives now.”
Now, finally, Rex was looking at me. His amber eyes bored into mine while his gaze was as cold as ice. His jaw tightened, “I don’t think General Skywalker cares much about that.”
I sighed while rolling my eyes at him. “Then we don’t let him wait.”
The Captain nodded tense while Fives took his arm from my shoulders so I was able to walk away.
“We’re hanging out later again?” I smiled apologetically towards Fives who answered with a simple nod. Sending me a little smile lastly.
While I walked away from the two of them I heard Rex starting to talk. I didn’t understand what they said but also didn’t lend this a second thought. This simply wasn’t my business.
“So what did you wanted to talk to me about?” When I arrived at the control centre I saw Anakin standing with his back towards me, looking out of the large windows which just showed that we were currently in hyperspace. Stars passed us by and were only a glimpse of light.
He turned around eyebrows raised, “I didn’t want to talk with you. Who said that?”
Rex, for kriffings sake.
I clenched one of my hands into a fist while murmuring swears.
“I guess I just misunderstood them.”
Anakin nodded. His forehead was still furrowed and confusion looked right from his eyes into mine. He felt through the force that I was lying, but that didn’t matter to me right now. First I had to kill my Captain for that stupid move of his.
“I’ll have to go.”
“I’m not going stop you”, Anakin agreed with arms held upwards. “Do what you can’t help doing.”
I rushed out of the control centre. Feeling the confused looks right in my back. Rex wherever you were, you weren’t safe. And I was pretty sure he knew that and just waited for me to find him.
Seconds later, I was still running through the cruiser, I reached out to him through my com and the force. But I couldn’t find him. My emotions were too strong and I wasn’t able to control myself.
“Rex here.”
“Where the kriff are you?”, bursted it out of me. So much for a Jedi having his emotions under control.
“In my room. Where else should I be?”
“Wait there. I’m coming.”
I ended the call, before he was able to reply, just to speed up even more.
Within seconds I was at the barracks of the clones and in front of Rex’s door. I didn’t wasted anymore time and bumped right into it. Once I’ve got some breath.
“How may I help you, General?” Rex asked politely. The Captain sat on his desk. Calm and without any kind of rush. He knew exactly why I was here. In this condition. The sparkle in his eyes told me. Betrayed him.
“You’re in a bad state, trooper.” I called out. The little smirk on his lips growing. Rex loved every second of it. Of my undivided attention.
“Would you mind explaining, General?” He stood up from his chair to walk right in front of me. Chest almost touching mine. If one of us would take a deep breath in, we would feel each other. I would touch him. Not just through the force and his breath on my forehead, also him in his physical form. I wanted to take this step forward. Hold his hand and let go, feel his body, but so easily I wouldn’t let him win this little war. For that, I was way too proud.
The Captain looked down at me with widened pupils and a growing grin on his lips. He waited for me to say something again. And he knew exactly what he did to me. If he was a Jedi it was easy to explain why he knew what I was feeling, because he felt it through the force. But he wasn’t one of us he just knew me that well. Which should scare me, that I’d let him get this close to me, but I didn’t. And maybe that was exactly my fault.
“If I remember right, you told a bit ago that Skywalker wanted to talk to me, but he did in fact, didn’t say that.”
Rex acted shocked, “That’s my mistake, General. May I misunderstood him.”
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms while I was turning around to end this conversation. I was done with it.
“What is that with Fives and you?” The mood in his room changed drastically from one moment to another. The air felt different than before. Was he-.
“Wait, are you jealous?” I turned around to look back at him, hiding a smirk.
Rex’s jaw tightened and so did his fists on either side of his body. He clenched and unclenched them, but didn’t answer me. Although his body language was answer enough. For that I didn’t need the force.
Slowly I putted my hand on his cheek and he leaned into my touch. I caressed his cheek as Rex liked it. I couldn’t believe that he thought I was able to have something with Fives, one of his brothers, when he stood right here in front of me. Perfectly and absolutely breath taking. Rex and I matched and I was 100 percent sure that I would never feel around anybody else the way I did with him. Rex was mine and I was his.
“How would I be able to have a relationship, like ours, with Fives when you’re right here? In all your glory and shiny armour”, I chuckled. His breath hitched while he putted his arm around me. To finally slim the gap between us. I couldn’t quite feel his body through the plastid armour, but being so close to him and feeling his chest rising and falling was enough for me. I was used to his armour and it also made him even hotter.
“I don’t know”, he muttered not able to lock his eyes with mine. “It’s just the way you act around each other. He makes you laugh and I think that you’re not enjoying my company as much as his.”
My eyes widened in disbelief. Had I really made him feel that way? Obviously it wasn’t on purpose, but we could figure it out if we talked about it. And luckily we did.
“I’m sorry that I made you feel this way. Rex, I’m enjoying you around me as much as Fives. I like it even more when I’m with you. Fives is just a good friend of mine, but you mean more to me. You’re my best friend, but most importantly you’re my boyfriend, secretly, but still my boyfriend.”
Rex relaxed visibly. “So I’m your boyfriend?”, he grinned from one ear to another. Oh kriff what had I put myself into? It was the first time I’ve ever said it out loud. Admitted it.
“Yes, unless you don’t want to be it.”
Quickly he shook his head. Grin still on his lips, before he moistened them with his tongue. “I’m a lucky trooper am I?”
“The luckiest of all”, I blushed.
Then he leaned down to me to close the gap fully and kiss me. Kissed me so I’d never wanted to kiss somebody else.
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yukipri · 1 year
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The Bad Batch Ep S2 Ep 11 - Thoughts & Spoilers
Spoilers,
Spoilers,
Spoilers,
So everything's beneath the cut!
I know with the Mando S3 premiere, this episode may have gotten even less attention than the rest of the show. BUT this episode had some incredible things, so here are *some* of my thoughts.
FIRST:
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HIM!!!!! and he was NAMED and had LINES!!!!
This is super exciting, because while we glimpsed Scorch in Season 1 while they were rescuing Gregor, I don't think he was mentioned anywhere by name, meaning it could have just been a random other RC with similar paint.
Delta Squad (from Legends) was technically canonized when they cameo'd in the Clone Wars, but it's so nice to see them again! It makes me pray that the other 3 members have escaped and are with Rex, because Scorch is *definitely* still super chipped....
Next, the MAIN thing I was super excited about:
So many things in this episode made me absolutely SCREAM, but the main one was probably FINALLY some movement on the connection between Nala Se and Omega. That's something I've been dying for more elaboration on since S1.
Omega is clearly a kid created for a specific reason, raised under specific circumstances, who has a unique bond with Nala Se, the primary creator of all clones. I was sure this would be part of the central storyline of TBB so I'm SO GLAD we're finally getting to it.
The thing is, Omega clearly has very complex feelings towards Nala Se, and Nala Se also considers Omega "special." SUPER curious to see where they go with this, especially since Nala Se seems to be reluctant to help the Empire. Understandable, given the destruction of Tipoca City, but she also never struck me as the sentimental type. I'm personally very wary of the "care" Nala Se seems to be showing Omega, and based on what we currently know, doubt that she means it sincerely—Omega (or her DNA) is likely valuable in some way.
Not sure how I'll react if they paint Nala Se as a sympathetic character, because I doubt I'll ever forgive her for what she did to Fives. Her treatment of Fives, which is also indicative of her treatment of all other clones. Her being kind(?) to Omega doesn't erase that.
I am absolutely confident that this lab and Nala Se/Omega is part of a plot that will connect to the experiments done to Grogu, which in turn will connect to Snoke + the return of Sidious in the ST. That's the running thread, to provide explanation/justification for that "twist."
While I think TBB is fun, THIS is what I personally was waiting for—Omega's true identity and why she's of value to Nala Se, how she therefore fits into the greater plan Nala Se had, and how that in turn affects not just Fett clones, but all the cloning that runs throughout SW.
I also LOVED that Omega showed her skills here—yes, she DOES know her way around Kaminoan tech!! The only time we've really seen it before is when Cad Bane kidnapped her + the S1 finale. She was Nala Se's personal MEDICAL ASSISTANT. She is older than the Batch! She KNOWS things!!
I was genuinely expecting (hoping) to learn more about Omega throughout the entire show, and we do see her being skilled + confident around various tools, but that's around it. I hope her past that she doesn't want to talk about is dragged out into the open in these last few eps.
I have a LOT of theories about Omega's past and her connection to the Batch and their origins (pst it's all in my fic), some of which will likely no longer be canon compliant, but ah well!
Other things that really made me happy:
-The Batch showing some growth due to the last episode, and growing a spine to stand up against Cid. Both pointing out that she didn't help them like they've helped her, and demanding a higher cut, though she did get the final say in the end. It was still a massive improvement!
-The ZILLO BEAST. First of all, it was definitely one of the coolest creatures in TCW, so it was super exciting to see it brought back! Its physiology is fascinating, and I loved how we got to see it visibly grow due to it feeding on electricity. This is actually the second creature we've encountered in TBB that seems to like electricity as an energy source, the first being in S1. It's neat to see this pattern, perhaps they're distantly related species?
I also LOVED that it tied into more experiments. I need to rewatch the eps, but i think it was implied in TCW that Palps was interested in the Zillo beast's armor, so I loved seeing that actually followed up on!
In general, I'm just a huge fan when world building plot points connect or are followed up on to build continuity and a greater view of the SW universe, and this episode definitely connected a bunch of points, so that was awesome!
Anyway, only 5 eps left of S2, excited to see where it goes!
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knightprincess · 1 year
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I Want To Remember (Captain Rex x Fem Reader)
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Words: Just over a thousand
Warning: None just a little fluff Synopsis: Rex returns to Coruscant with the hope of seeing a certain medic again
Returning to Coruscant was always one of Rex's favorite things. Not only for the down time, and seeing his brothers getting the much needed time to rest and relax. But because it also gave him the chance to rendezvous with a certain medic. The one Kix and Fives often teased him about. It had been a coincidence when the Captain of the 501st met her, or so he thought. Fives and Echo had insisted he join them for a trip to 79's, both Arc Troopers refusing to take no for an answer, even when Rex had tried. When they got there, the club was bursting with life, music loud and the lights blinding. The dance floor packed as normal. Jesse was at the bar with Kix and Tup. 
*~* Flashback *~*
Kix was talking to a woman, seemingly entranced by her, although that quickly changed the moment Fives waved to him. Kix's expression had instantly turned to one resembling mischief, where as Jesse and Tup seemed to be making a wager between them, no doubt more plans to cause havoc, as was normal when alcohol was involved. 
"That's Rex, the one I was telling you about" whispered Kix to (Y/N), a wicked grin appearing on his lips, as he went through with trying to set Rex up with someone special. With the help of Fives, Echo, Jesse and Tup, he'd settled on (Y/N) being that person. Finding her kind nature and sense of humor somewhat perfect for the great Captain. 
"Remind me again why you're setting me up with your captain?" asked (Y/N), finding herself lacking confidence. It had been years since she'd been on a date. Even before the war, she'd never considered herself good at the dating game, if anything she was terrible at it. Her last serious relationship had ended after her partner had cheated on her. He had the nerve to blame her for it, saying she was too boring, saying her stubbornness was the problem. 
"You deserve better than your last boyfriend and our captain needs to find a life away from the battlefield" responded Jesse, putting himself on guard duty. It was no secret her ex was still sniffing around, hoping for another chance now his toy had wizened up and left him. He'd tried several times over the last few weeks, although she'd made it clear it was over and she have no intention of putting herself through it all again. 
"Boys, Ma'am" voiced Rex upon joining the group at the bar, Fives winking as he always did and Echo offering his normal friendly hug. Rex of course noticing, silently questioning whom (Y/N) was and how long she'd been on friendly terms with several of his brothers. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't recall seeing her at 79's before. 
"Rex this is (Y/N), medic for the 212th Legion" spoke Kix, introducing the beautiful medic to his friend and Captain. Rex couldn't help the surprise to flash across his features. Cody had spoken of her and her talents as a medic, but never said she was so beautiful, or a conscripted medic. He'd never mentioned her name either. 
"Nice to finally have a face to go with the name" voiced (Y/N), her voice slightly raised, so she could be heard of the booming music. Cody had spoken of his legendary friend, like with the others, the Commander had spoken highly of Rex, Wolffe had too when he was around to add his opinion. 
"You've heard of me?" asked Rex, feeling proud, such a beautiful woman knew whom he was. "You just got to look around to my fellow brothers, to know my face" commented the Captain, receiving a chuckle from (Y/N) in response. Rex offered a smile, as pride bubbled up. Jesse close by rolling his eyes at the same old comment. A pick up line he'd practically begged Rex to never use again. 
Minutes later, Rex had lead (Y/N) over to a booth to the side of the dance floor. The others losing sight of the pair, although each of them had a cheeky grin placed firmly on their lips. Soon enough their other mischievous plans of helmet switch-a-roo would be in motion. 
"Another drink?" asked (Y/N), upon noticing Rex's empty glass. She'd found herself with nerves, although it was settling slowly. Rex on the other hand shook his head, leaning back with his brown eyes locked on the beautiful woman before him. "What?" nervously asked (Y/N), beginning to feel self conscious, wrapping her arms around herself in an attempt to cover herself up. 
"Nothing. Just trying to take a picture of you in my mind" whispered Rex, determined to memorize every little detail about the medic in his company. Her beauty was something equal to a rare jewel to him. "I want to remember" added Rex leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table. Asking her questions in an attempt to get to know her better. All while being oblivious to Fives, Echo and Jesse, keeping (Y/N)'s ex away from the pair. 
"You want to remember me?" questioned (Y/N), a cheeky grin appearing on her lips, as she unwrapped her arms from around herself, moving to rest against the table, ignoring her ex, attempting to get her attention. 
"I'd be a fool not to" replied Rex, pressing a gentle kiss to her cheek, hearing a sweet giggle in response. Happy to continue the night, and making a metal note to thank the boys later. 
*~* End of Flashback *~*
Ever since that night, Rex looked forward to returning to Coruscant, even more so when the 212th were back at the same time. He knew he'd be gifted with more moments with (Y/N), his not so secret love. 
He wanted to thank her, as he did every time he was granted the chance to see her beautiful face again. She'd become the reason he'd continue to fight during the war, she'd become the person his thoughts drifted to during the quiet moments. Whenever he seen something in a market, he'd always think of (Y/N) and if she'd like it.
As of recent though, something else had entered his mind. Despite the war seemingly never ending, the captain had found himself thinking about the future. His future and what it could possibly look like. He hoped to retire in peace, farm somewhere like Cut had. He dared hope (Y/N) would be at his side, offering him the same love she often dotted him with. Just as he dared hope his brothers would also find peace and happiness in their own way, whatever that would look like. 
"Meeting up with a certain medic?" Jesse's voice broke the train of thought, the laughter of the others shattering it further. Rex shook his head, shaking away the cobwebs and the image of (Y/N) the night they met. Hoping to burn a new image into his mind that night. 
Masterlist
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nitrosodiumfmp · 13 days
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Behold, a First Look at Nharro
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For being a pretty key character in Sinister's story (without him being asleep, the story would not happen), I haven't touched on Nharro much. This is my first piece of concept art for the Spirit King himself. I actually put a lot of thought into his design - much like the rest of Sinister, it doesn't look weird to look weird, it all has a purpose. Firstly, notice his pose, left hand raised upwards. (Left hand is noted because the word sinister means left-handed in Latin). This pose has been used, in some capacity, in Hinduism art, especially of the god Shiva.
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Note the lower right (Shiva's right, at least) facing palm-outward to the viewer. Shiva is regarded as a god of both creation and destruction within Hinduism, and this parallels Nharro as the ruler of limbo, a realm between life and death. I've thought about this a lot and incorporated it into his design - not only is Nharro very symmetrical, but most things in his design are in groups of two, five and ten. I was thinking about how to represent the soul without connecting it to any specific religion (even my look into Hinduism was surface-level). What makes the human being different from any other animal (assuming animals do not have souls)? Our intelligence? But animals like dolphins are just as smart. Our genes? Perhaps, but we share nearly 99% of that with pigs and apes. I would like to point to the thing that has let us survive as a species: hands, specifically, five digits and opposable thumbs to allow us to master the tool. We have two hands, five digits on each, and ten across both. Look closer at Nharro's design if you haven't already - each curling line, each pattern of dots, practically everything comes back to that theme of two, five and ten.
You may have also noticed the pocketwatch tied to Nharro's ring finger by a chain. This is so he can count the lifetimes of the many souls entering his domain, but it also represents the mechanical aspects of Nharro's realm, the gears and moving parts. To him, the cycle of life and death is the perfect machine, multiple components (decay, growth, et cetera) working together. However, as Nharro's mind spirals into unconsciousness, so does the underworld. The immaculate order is gone, warped; gears now spin independent of any drive shafts or machinery, no longer obeying laws of friction nor thermodynamics. Warehouses of perfectly-ordered containers are now strewn in absurd patterns, stacked to the ceilings for no logical reason. The rusted hulks of boats pile up in the harbor, the carcasses of a once-orderly fleet of limbo-faring ferries. No wonder the Shipwright went mad.
Now let's look at Nharro's subordinates, the skeletons at his sides. They are dressed in cloaks; an idealistic artistic representation of a Grave Digger's garb, no longer torn apart by the ravages of time. The leftmost (our left this time, confusing I know) skeleton is carrying a spade, indicating that this one would fill the role of Grave Digger. Nharro has his hand rested on its skull; an act of affirmation to who are essentially his children. The other skeleton is carrying a large tome, and while it is not visible in the image, some messages in Latin are written.
Nharro spiritus est rex terram inter vitam et mortem.
Dominus maris in quem omnia flumina influunt.
Manes ad milites, sepulchra ad sutores, cryptas ad urbes.
Mortis in visione vitae.
I chose Latin because, beyond it being the go-to language for writing interesting messages without creating a conlang, it also contains the root of the word Sinister, as previously mentioned. The messages translate roughly to:
Nharro is the spirit king of the land between life and death.
Lord of the ocean into which all rivers flow.
Ghosts unto soldiers, tombstones unto cobbles, crypts unto cities.
Death in the visage of life.
Beyond being a nice bit of purple prose to fill the artwork, it describes my idea of Nharro and the wider afterlife quite well. The "ocean into which all rivers flow" is a metaphor I've wanted to use for a while in conjunction with Sinister - the afterlife's geography is very ocean-heavy, and the sea has always been a source of mysticism, from sirens and sea monsters to the supernatural implications of Davy Jones' Locker, and the various disappearances of ships throughout the ages. Plus, if you think back to the idea of Nharro loving the perfect cycles of life and death, look at the water cycle. Water begins in rivers and flows to the ocean, where it is "reincarnated" via evaporation. Sinister has you die over and over, and where do you evaporate, or respawn from, each time? The harbor. The ocean. My plan for traveling between levels has you on a boat - you're on your own water cycle in that sense. And what of "tombstones unto cobbles, crypts unto cities"?. Obviously this is a resting place functionally, but look at the level architecture. Everything is built out of gigantic pieces of stone, as if the afterlife was literally built out of ancient tomb remnants.
The artwork on the book is also related; though it's basically incomprehensible in the image I took. The first one is an ornate skull at the bottom of the first page, which doesn't have any meaning, but it's in line with the rest of the art design for the drawing. The next one represents a group of skeletons in a boat, crossing a stormy sea. This obviously relates to souls entering the afterlife by boat; the imagery originally comes from Charon and his ferry in Greek mythology, but it's also how souls canonically arrive to Nharro's realm in-game. The third image shows four buildings, standing tall. However, the remains of four skeletons are entombed within, making the skyscrapers appear more like sarcophagi. This relates to that line "crypts unto cities", on a more metaphorical level.
On Nharro's actual physical shape, I borrowed a lot from Moon Lord from Terraria.
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The irregular head shape with multiple eyes, visible ribcage, and torso that tapers off is a very striking design, and something I have tried to mirror with Nharro. Obviously, his emaciated look comes from him being the god of death; of course he looks like a wizened corpse. Nharro's head was the first thing I designed of his character actually; I couldn't tell you what it properly represents, but it does somewhat resemble a coffin. If you look closely, a leering skull is visible in the centre, and this pattern is mirrored if you look at it upside-down, once more bringing things back to the themes of two, five and ten. In retrospect, it also looks very phallic, but given that sex is a key part of the life-death cycle (leading into birth obviously), it does still relate. Truthfully, it was an interestingly curved symmetrical pattern I could easily draw. Maybe it's different for everyone who looks at it. That is the key part of the project, after all. One thing can appear to be one outcome, and end up being another entirely. Nothing is as it seems. I think the Spirit King emulates that quite well.
(I am also aware that the name "Spirit King" is used by various characters, but it isn't Nharro's official title anyway).
I plan to have this drawing as a texture on a massive wall in the second level of Sinister, perhaps in some sort of church so I can lean into the more Gothic and fantastical elements of the art style. I could even make it transparent somehow and put it on a stained-glass window; now that would be cool. I have put masses of thought into this design, and so I really want to implement it somehow. I'd hate for all this effort to go to a character you don't even see.
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eternal-transcience · 5 months
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M.I.A (Chapter 3 Rex x F!OC)
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Main Pairing: Rex x Peonia Ylandra Side Pairings: Rex & Ace, Fives x Peonia (Unrequited feelings), Fives & Jesse, Genre of story: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort Genre of Chapter: Angst. Characters: Captain Rex, Fives, ARC Commander Ace (OC), Captain Baron (OC), Major Damnata (OC), Peonia Ylandra (OC), Lieutenant Arc (OC), General Aurora Ylandra (OC), Jesse, Lieutenant Achilles (OC), Sergent Sevens. Mentioned Characters: Echo, Kandosii (OC) Words: 5,216 Parts: 3 / 5 (Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, Part 5)) Warnings: Medically necessary injections, Sevens has Order Sixty Six as a possibility and Achilles is treating it like an impossible conspiracy theory,but Aurora isn't sure on the Senate anymore herself, also it's very loosely described in a nightmare format. Notes: Pre Umbara, Post Citadel. Rex is in pining angst.Is 70 per cent of the angst. There's a little bit of tenderness from Ace to Aurora <3 But Fives and Re are the Angsty Source Today Songs listened to while writing: The Monster (Clones, Clones' Sacrifice, Burying The Dead (It's Over Now), The Clones (Sad Themes), It's All of Us, Victory and Death, Crash Course Moon, Y Wing, Burying The Dead), plus some songs from my rather long playlist AO3 Masterlists: x reader, oc x canon & oc x oc, 210th Squad (in the works) Reblogs and comments make the world go round <3 Tags at the end!
Aurora paced the med bay. Back. Forth.  Chin between her right thumb and forefinger, vambrace visible beneath the fallen sleeve of her right arm, hand guards worn proudly on top of dark gloves.
Back…. Forth…
Her brows were knitted together in thought, but she was still listening to the troop beneath it all, eyes sometimes reacting to an exclamation that surprised her, or lips quirking at one of Jesse’s jokes to Damnata, or Baron ruffling Fives’ hair like an older brother before he left to get the portable radio Aurora’s brother had brought on board during an inspection of her men. Arc, according to Achilles, found music helped him sleep and recover from hardships.
And if this wasn’t a hardship, Fives didn’t know what would be.
Despite it all, The General paced.
Paced was the wrong word. Fives did watch her walk from one side of the room to the other, but she was ambling, thinking, focused but distracted. He cocked a brow up at it, allowing the medical droid to check the healing process of his temple beneath the patch. He had worked with her on multiple occasions and had been on the Adoria a handful of times, but she had always seemed collected. Calm. Good-natured. Something between Generals Kenobi, Koon and a healthy glug (or three) of Skywalker with how she bantered around, treating them like brothers and not friends who were soldiers and numbers. 
Nothing like this.
It was almost unnerving.
“You’ll get used to it.” Achilles closed the life support’s lid over Arc. He checked the fluids and blood for adequate transfusion before removing his surgical gloves.  His hair was messier than before from the surgical hat he had to wear during an emergency procedure to find the site of Arc’s internal bleeding, release the pressure, repair it, and stitch him back together again. 
“The General does this often?”
“Depends how worried she is.” 
Fives watched as she, once more, walked to the far wall, talking about the scans with the admiral on the bridge. “And… how worried is this?”
The medic, now placing his armour back on, watched Aurora for a moment before his eyes closed and a sigh passed his lips. “Pretty bad…. Unless she gets contact from the Commander and Rex soon,  she’s going to be stuck in her head.”
Fives quirked a brow, a light tease escaping him with a half smile. “I thought Jedi are good at not doing that?”
“Not everyone is as good as another, but she’s good at not letting it destroy her, too.” He tightened his utility belt around his middle. “Work with her at all, you realise she’s not as detached from people as a Jedi should be...Work with her day in, day out, through good and bad, you realise she’s stronger in mind and heart than the council gives her credit for.”
“They don’t trust her then?”
“I wouldn’t say they don’t trust her, General Koon’s worked with us enough times to trust us wholeheartedly, but… a handful don’t appreciate her. I don’t think anyway. The Commander would tell you she has to double her efforts to get listened to by some of the members-”
A protest from Sevens caused a medicine table to slide into an astromech unit, causing a complaint in beeps and trills he recognised as being similar to R2’s but a somewhat lower pitch, and the clone sighed in apology, pulling one arm out of his blacks. “I know, Pyramid, but if Ezster let me take my own shirt off, it wouldn’t’ve banged into you.”
It was almost amusing, hearing the back and forth of a betrayed, and upset (but not angry) olive green droid, and a half-dressed man with a tattoo of the 210th emblem (what could only, at its best, be described as one squared up heart, elongated, within another, and in the centre, tall and proud, was their General’s lightsaber. From the three points at the top of the blade, were three elongated, pointed ovals to represent light, he assumed) on his right shoulder, and the Corrie Guard emblem on his left,, trying to solve the problem diplomatically.
Aurora paused her amble to oversee the broken peace before continuing again once the ex-guard had given the astromech a rub on the head in apology.
After a small smile, she continued again.
“And she’s always in the med bay?”
“Only when there are injuries and illness. She’s here in case Sevens needs a distraction from any needle today, and on the off chance negative side effects happen from any antibiotics or blood draws. She helps with the bandages usually.”
“Usually?”
“When there are many injuries after a mission and not enough medical staff.” Baron finished his cup of warm, malted milk drink as he entered, the radio in his free hand playing quietly to not disturb anyone. The device was placed next to the life support  “As there isn’t any that we've not already patched up, or… in Arc’s case, mostly have under control, she’s waiting with us as our General, and as part of the backup.”
“General Ylandra’s got our back, and we have hers.” Damnata gave Jesse a glass of water before approaching Fives with the other - he accepted it gladly. “Not all of the Jedi would be willing to be part of the team; it’s too close to being a soldier. Something they’ve not had to be since the last war.”
“It breaks their role as peacekeepers.” Sevens winced as a needle went into his neck, sweat beading his forehead. It seemed a fear of needles was part of him. Fives didn’t blame him. Some of the medical tests were brutal on Kamino. “But as the General says, when peace is broken, and you can’t keep it, you have to achieve it, and sometimes that means fighting. Being peacekeepers means being adaptable and doing everything possible to bring it back. Even if it means being a General.”
“There was Sith Oppression once, Empires built on Slavery, no different to Tattooine or The Zygerrians, but���worse.” Damnata took his seat next to Fives. “A war broke out between them and the Jedi, and with the Republic working with the Jedi, the Sith Empire was brought to an end.”
“The General believes the Jedi and the Republic alike have forgotten that, as much as it is a duty of the Jedi to keep the peace when it can be achieved, when it can’t they’ve been warriors. To keep peace, it has to be there. For it to be there, you have to seek it. And when diplomacy fails and war breaks, you have to fight.”
“There were more Jedi then.” Achilles took a pack of bacta patches and made his way to Jesse, whose left shoulder was bare for a patch to be placed upon the blaster graze. “It was easier to be spread out to do both.” He was gentle, taking out a patch, like he learnt from the same people as Kix did.
Somehow, that was comforting.
“Was it though?” Sevens stretched out an arm. “I mean, it’s war. Jedi are expected to do almost everything by Republic Politicians - be Generals, but be peacekeepers. Be politically neutral, but have one of their councillors represent the Chancellor, tread on political eggshells, and follow every Senator’s whim.” His arm returned to the medical bed, hands clinging to the edge as stitches closed a wound. “There may have been more back then, but the Sith were worse than the Seppies. They killed with the force, tortured with the force, electrocuted you to death with the force, and broke your mind with it. They killed Jedi for sport, even enslaved them like trophies. Clankers can’t do that.”
“General Ylanrda….” When Jesse spoke, Aurora stopped, no longer conversing with the Admiral, and her eyes found him with a kind encouragement. But Jesse looked more concerned, and his voice carried the disbelief in its saddest form. “Is it true? What the Sith did?”
She blinked for a moment, catching up with the conversation, and then her expression turned sombre. “I don’t know everything, I admit, but The Sith Race, as it started, was nothing to joke about. Over time and interbreeding, the pureblood lines began to die, and Sith became a term best used to describe the dark side of the force, or people that used something neutral for evil: death, torture, mind control…”
General Ylandra leaned against the wall, her hand slowly rising with elegantly postured fingers (enhanced by her nails, which were painted a pale purple on this occasion and freshly so) to lift Baron’s empty cup with the force, guiding it to the sink for such things when Achilles was on his break.
“There was the Army of Light - Jedi Crusaders liberating Sith Occupied planets, including Coruscant.  When the Sith was believed extinct, the Republic was reborn and The Great Peace began, with any threats of war outbreaks swiftly quelled by the Jedi Order for a thousand years.” With the cup now in the sink, her arms settled on loosely folding with her hands resting on her biceps and her fingers following their curvature.
“The Old Republic became the darkest era, and untalked about. Forgotten. Then, The Clone Army - you - became the first Republic Army in a thousand years, and the Jedi have returned to crusaders and liberating planets from Dooku’s droid armies. Still, the millennia of forgetting the Jedi-Sith war has meant the people have forgotten that before our ‘Great Peace’, the Jedi were warriors fighting for their freedom. And now it’s caused whispers and fractures within the people and the very order itself.”
“It’s happened because a dark era became forbidden. And the Senate is the biggest fracture, and cause, of it all.” Sevens spoke lowly, almost angry at the thought. “As a Corrie, I had to watch them bicker about it every meeting. There could be a plot to kill the Jedi; I wouldn’t even question its legitimacy.”
“Oh come on, Sevens.” Achilles released a sigh.”We’ve been through this before. It would be suicide to the Republic.”
“Yes, but the birth of an Empire.” Sevens turned then, and Fives exchanged a look with Jesse in mild concern before looking back at the ex-guard. It was farfetched, but his confidence in it made it difficult to ignore. “You’ve not seen the Senators or heard them talk. They’re politicians. They care about themselves and only themselves. The Chancellor doesn’t care. The Senate doesn’t care. If they did, he would have been out of office by now. This war is based on corruption, but The Chancellor is the most corrupt.” Baron stood from his seat, arms folded, tone carrying a warning. His brows were drawn together now, eyes narrowed enough to show his displeasure, but they remained open enough to tell the younger Clone that he understood. “Careful, Sevens… That sounds treacherous.”
“Sir, I would never betray my brothers or the Jedi. The Seppies have done horrible things, are led by Sith and would ally themselves with anyone to win – I’d rather die than turn my back on the Jedi. But the Chancellor has the Senate wrapped around his fingers and he’s using them. You see it all as a guard.” “Seeing and hearing doesn’t make it true, Trooper.”
“Sir, the evidence is our nightmare. We all have the same one. Look around us in the Galaxy: no other race in the galaxy shares the same nightmare. We all know what it is, we’re just too cowardly to do anything about it.”
“General,” now the medic looked at Aurora in desperation, distress on his usually calm face, sombreness taking over everyone else’s… “please tell him to drop it. It’s impossible.”
The room was silent. The air turned heavy. 
Every Clone in the room feared it.
The nightmare, consistent, haunting, everywhere. Hazy, but filled with lightsabers deflecting bullets, voices trying to stop them, and no matter how hard he would try, he couldn’t. Then it would full silent, brothers once warm in personality now cold, and before he could see the body… he’d awake. Coated in sweat, cold and clammy, and wanting to sit beneath a shower for an hour until they were composed again.
But deep down, he knew who the body was without having to look. Jedi was the first word in his mind after it.
They all woke at night from it. The first time, they spoke of it as cadets. Never after. Not once they were under the command of Jedi Generals. He didn’t believe it was connected, but it was… impossible to be a coincidence, surely?
What if…
What if he was onto something?
What if he was right? 
“I… I’m not sure anymore…” Fives saw the General, someone who had given Peonia her unrelenting faith in the Republic,  look to the ground with a timid voice. It did nothing to alleviate the nagging thought. It made it nag deeper, claw away at his chest in fear. “The darkness within the force makes it difficult to sense much of anything, let alone make it make sense.”
“Surely the republic turning against the Jedi would be unheard of?” Fives stood, the words falling from him in a hurry. It was the only thing he could do to try to ease his mind that it was just a nightmare and nothing more to come. “They respect you and once the war’s over, you’ll be back to peacekeeping.”
He watched her lips curl upward, tight yet trying, whilst she removed her cloak to reveal her body, armoured with full plastoid. He was surprised she still wore it whilst others stopped. “I hope you’re right, Fives.  But something doesn’t feel right… Nothing does.” A small laugh. “So far, only one good thing’s come out of this war, and that’s you: Clones. Wonderfully brilliant beings. If we didn’t have this war, I’d not have the best squad in the GAR, would I?”
The heavy atmosphere gave way to allow a tease.
Jesse stood with his hands on the table, a challenging gleam in his eye and a grin that made so many in 79s fawn over him (Peonia had said Jesse’s charm came partly from how babyfaced he looked, which only made his friend stutter whilst she and half the squad - including Rex - laughed in pure affection). “No, the best are us boys.” He swung his arm around Fives’ shoulder, and Fives laughed as he did the same in turn. “General Skywalker would have something to say about your claim.”
“Whilst you boys and Rex are quite good,” she met the challenge with a gleam of her own, “they’re not my boys in pink..”
A range of groans and laughter of pure affection echoed until the beep of her communicator silenced them. “General, this is Captain Rex. We have visuals on the base, twenty klicks from our position.”
“Alright, Rex.” She gestured her hand to follow her and all who could follow, including Sevens with Damnata helping him carry his armour as he slipped his shirt back on. “We’re on our way.”
“Sir… Commander Ace would sooner you stay on the ship….”
“Whilst I understand his concern, I’ll be part of the team. Nia’s my sister, afterall, and would do the same if it was me in her position. We’ll make contact once we’re on the final approach..”
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“We’re on the final approach to the base, Commander. What’s your status?”
“Alive, unharmed and not spotted, General. Approaching a ventilation access shaft we spotted on the map that should get us to Peonia.”
“Alright, Commander. Any sign of Kandosii?”
“Negative, General.”
“We’ll make him our priority. Falling radio silent in three minutes.” 
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Rex raised a brow at the coolness with which the Commander spoke, having been so warm toward her two hours ago when they landed and before the sun had given way to two moons, their helmets now on night vision. The trek had been… nothing short of eventful for fifteen minutes, finding small, three-piece patrols of B1 Battle droids every klick,  abandoned scavenger sites (or, so the scans passed onto them said), and the sets of footprints that followed their path ended long ago to be replaced with kicked up dirt from speeders.
The footprints showed signs of Kandosii (or, that was who they were assuming was with Peonia) supporting Nia, who they knew was injured. His prints disappeared at the same time, though the signs of fighting were crystal clear with blood left behind on the tip of a knife (blood that was not Nia’s or a clone’s based on scans, but the DNA ‘code’ had to be sent to the bridge for better, more detailed answers).
That was a good sign they were still together when they were taken, and the team could only view it as a good sign they still were. Or, at the very least, not too far away from each other.
Yet the front courtyard, empty of guard postings due to the combined talents of Ace with a sniper rifle and Rex lightly guiding EMP grenades to knock out the security, revealed no clues on anything more than the speeder. The speeder they only knew had their victims in by the discovery of a smaller drop of Peonia’s blood.
At Ace’s hand signal, Rex moved forward.
His eyes glared for a moment as he passed the vehicle, vowing to find them both before the damn Separatists could do anything to them.
He closed the grate of the ventilation shaft behind him, his form crouched low as he followed Ace (well aware of the sniper on the Commander’s back) through the tunnels quietly until their height tripled. There was no chance of getting caught with the small vents in each room being close to the top, allowing Ace to keep the holomap open in the unknown territory. Despite the height of the section they were in, it was narrow and easier to manoeuvre sideways. If they were to be facing forward, there would only be an inch between their shoulders and the walls, making it difficult to fight if it came to it.
Ace signalled up to the hatch at the end, closed but not unsealable. With a small burner of sorts that formed a laser, he began to break it open.
He had been quiet since Rex had last made contact with the General. When that happened, the Commander had been recalibrating the filters of his helmet after being caught in a net trap and set upon by scavengers that left as soon as they saw plastoid (leaves and twigs had gotten caught and caused problems that needed urgent addressing). With the bucket off, Rex saw Ace’s brows furrow at the General’s decision to come planetside. It wasn’t his usual disappointed dismay on his features, but frustration and concern rolled into one. His jaw had turned tense, and a fresh scratch on his neck almost bled more from the muscle it was on turning rigid. He mumbled something quietly, though Rex knew it was in Mando’a, and with how he had only spoken since about their planned rescue, and how almost cold Ace had been, he assumed the annoyance had yet to leave him.
“Sir, I… can’t help but notice you’re frustrated?”
A pause and a calm, but… sadly inquisitive voice followed it.  “I’m hiding it, though, right?”
“...No.” Rex heard Ace’s sigh and he looked away in thought for a moment. He suspected he knew why he was frustrated… he wouldn’t be too dissimilar if Nia went against a similar order, but there had to be more to it. The Commander had, by his own confession, mentioned he cared deeply about the General, and Rex doubted he imagined the shared look of affection between the two… Even so, it wasn’t out of character for her to make that sort of decision. It was almost commonplace. When someone was her responsibility, she took it seriously. Jedi or no, a sister she shouldn’t have been making contact with or not, he understood enough from Peonia’s high praise that Aurora felt a sense of responsibility over the wellbeing of her family.
It was the only reason she was a Jedi: to end a civil war her Uncle had begun. The Jedi Masters themselves could do nothing in negotiations to change that. The existence of a force-sensitive child, sired by a former Jedi, existing in the royal bloodline was one too many and, so, he forced the family apart. Despite it all, Nia had said Aurora found a way to keep in contact, to look out for her from afar if her aid was wanted. The professionalism mask to hide any attachment was well drilled between them: more than one Jedi, professional only.
“The General’s doing what she thinks is right, Sir.” “I know… Still, I wish she left it to us. We’re more than capable.” “The scans alone show a small army. We need her and that backup to stand a chance of success.”
“Too many things can go wrong, and we’d lose more than one Ylandra.”
“Can’t be worse than Skywalker’s plans.”
That got a small breath of a chuckle. “I suppose you’re right. And nothing is worse than Krell’s.” The hatch loosened and Ace returned to hand signals.
Covert, quick, clean and silent. 
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Rex almost coughed at the stench three minutes away from the hatch, deep inside the base. It smelt like death and electricity, burnt flesh and metal. If it wasn’t for how long he had been on the lines, desensitised, in part, to it, he was certain his gut would have churned.
The filters in his helmet barely helped, if they did anything at all. “Commander,” he raised a brow at the closeness of the feminine voice, and the shadow cast through the next grate. Ace looked through it, expression invisible beneath the bucket. “Never thought we’d cross paths.”
“General?” Ace’s voice fell quiet and Rex saddled up to him, looking through the bars to find Fives and Jesse accompanying General Ylandra. “Is this… the backup?” She shook her head. “Nope, four others are down the way. Peonia’s easier to reach covertly with you two. We’ve got Kandosii’s position covered. Keep following this tunnel until the next turn. There’ll be a repair shaft blocked by a small door. Get through there, then down the first hatch. You’ll be in the room where Nia’s being held captive.” “And what about you?” The Commander’s fingers touched the grate. If he was to be any closer, Rex would have thought he wanted to slither between the bars to her. As it was, the position and tone to anyone else, without the context of self-admittance, would make the touch one of balance and the intonation of his words was only concern for a leader and friend. But with it… a fine line between friend and… friend.  “Where are you going?”
The coldness from earlier was gone and something told Rex that if the grate wasn’t there, Ace’s hands would be twitching to hold hers.
A feeling he knew all too well.
“We’re securing the area and causing a distraction at both ends of this corridor.” Fives made a gesture with his head and Rex must have looked at him in a particular manner without realising it, for regardless of being unable to see the dismay on his face, Fives spoke next as if he could. “We’ve got the all-clear to be out here, Rex. We’ll be fine.”
“I’ve got his back, Sir.” Jesse leaned on Fives, voice full of humour, “and General’s got an eye on us.”
“Be careful out there. Echo’s not here to make sure you stay out of trouble, so I expect to hear that you didn’t cause any chaos.” “Don’t worry, Rex.” Fives became serious, sombre… but certain. His grief, though hidden beneath his bucket, was revealed with clarity that rivalled the melted ice from a planet’s poles. “He’s the angel on my shoulder.” He looked to Jesse, and he lightly nudged him off. “Not you. You’re the devil.” “I’m an innocent man, Fives. I would never be your devil. You’re my devil.”
“Alright lads, we’ve got work to do.” General Ylandra looked first at Rex. “Don’t worry, Captain. I’ll look after them. Baron’s got the others.” “That concerns me.” Ace shook his head. “But not as much as you being here, Ma’am. You’ve heard of what Krell did by now, and you’ve not slept well in days by the looks of it…”
Rex stayed as still as a statue, but his eyes moved away from the pair as he warmed in the awkwardness. There was professionalism there, and it wasn’t questionable. But the way the Commander spoke also carried something underlying that was, quite possibly, breaking protocol rather than following it. 
It was quiet, but the statement of concern was almost… fearful and addressed outside of his usual authoritative but calm ways. Like there was an endearing term on the tip of his tongue.
Rex knew that one, too. How often had he caught himself nearly calling Peonia beautiful in Mando’a? More times than he dared to admit. “If I weren’t here, Commander, I’d be worrying the crew. I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll, uh,” Rex cleared his throat, thankful he had his helmet on so no one could see how tempted he was to look anywhere but out the grate. “I’ll keep an eye on your Commander, Sir.”
“And you’ll keep an eye on my sister’s favourite, Ace?”
Rex’s face warmed.
Tell Rex I love him. In case I don't make it.
The words returned to him so quickly it nearly winded his very thoughts. There was nothing but sincerity in her tone — even in the hologram it was undeniable — and yet it carried regret. Regret about what? How the feelings came to be known? Her situation? Having feelings for him when a relationship between them was forbidden?
“Yes, Ma’am.”
His heart went tight whenever she hurt and all he could do was hold her shoulders (unless she wanted something deeper); all he wanted to do, in those moments of vulnerable fragility was pull her right up close and keep her there until she stopped hurting, and longer to make sure. 
He wanted to embrace her into his neck like he did on the LAAT after leaving the Citadel. He wanted to rest his chin atop her head, tilt his face so his cheek rested there, and feel her breaths settle. He wanted so desperately to be her rock the way she had, without realising, become the earth beneath his feet. To feel her heart racing against his chest, away from plastoid. To be in silence with her as he rubbed her back. 
He wanted to hold her tight.
He looked at her smile, particularly when it was sent to him, and he’d only know how to return it. He’d hear her laugh, especially if it was to something he said, and he’d only know how to melt. He’d watch her interact with his squad, and he’d only know how to adore her beyond the threshold he thought he had.
He’d watch her bite her lip or roll it between her teeth, and he’d stare, only wondering how it would feel for their lips to touch. Even a graze. A graze part of him knew he’d want to take more of if she allowed him to, half hungered and half yearned. He would hear her hum and he wondered if she would still hum if he held her from behind, if she would turn and continue to hum as they shared a chaste kiss in secret greeting.
He wondered if she had had thoughts cross her mind of the same calibre, or if she simply wasn’t interested. She wouldn’t be the first person to say those three words as strictly platonic. She described Echo and Fives as such often, but always in a way where everyone knew she meant it purely as friends and nothing more. And whilst it didn’t sound platonic when she said it about him… maybe the as a friend part was cut or forgotten as the droids overwhelmed her.
It hurt like ice sliding through his arteries at the thought they couldn’t be together, let alone try, because not only were they in the GAR, but he was also a clone.
“Good luck out there, boys. Fives, Jesse, let’s go set some traps. Quietly. “
A number.
Expendable.
They were created solely for fighting and to die fighting. To age rapidly. To die at forty but looking like eighty. To only be thrown into heavy fire by the senate in a war they never, truly, understood except for peace, never knowing what it was like before, never experiencing the galaxy before the war began. Only to ever know how to fight. Never how to love or settle down.
Not without breaking the rules. Not without getting into trouble for being a living creature with a heart and a mind. 
The only difference between them and droids was they could make their own decisions.
But could they?
It stung to know he’d burn to feel her embrace, never to know its comforting warmth, until there ever came a day she would stop seeking him out; he’d allow her to. He’d carry the burns on his soul and she would leave with none.
Ace’s hand on his chestplate stopped him. Rex didn’t know how long they had been moving again, or when they did, but the scenery was a welcome change with the opening of the hatch. The commander signalled him to clamber down the ladder first, his form led on his front with his sniper positioned at the entrance to the room below.
Rex’s feet on the steel bars echoed in the room and, at first, it was all he could hear. The sounds of clipping and clopping, heavy in a cold, destitute room, were the only greeting. More haunting still came when he touched the floor. Electricity pulsed in the air. In front of him? The contraption he believed to be the source. He’d seen more than one of them during rescue missions to know the imprisonment was going to be in front of it.
Sure enough, as he turned to his right, his breath caught in his throat. Suspended, hung to dry, and ghostly pale… “Sir… You might want to let The General know we’ve found Nia…” Rex allowed his feet to approach her, a hand rising as if to touch her through the pale RAY Shield. Her head was bowed low, her hair loose from its ponytail, her clothes torn, and her palm and sides injured. “And if she’s here…”
“Kandosii could be nearby.” Ace’s voice echoed in his ears. “I’ll get the General on the case. Bring down the RAY shield and get her out of there, Rex. I’ll see if that cursed contraption behind you has the data of her vitals ”
Rex didn’t need to be told twice, pistol already in his head and a blaster bolt on its way to the generator.
His hands ripped open her shackles. Her body fell onto him.
All he could do was hold her tenderly as he lowered her to the floor, and cradled her limp form within his embrace.
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Tag List: @sev-on-kamino (because so many clone sillies), @anxiouspineapple99 and @starrylothcat
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dystopicjumpsuit · 6 months
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Stars Beyond Number - Chapter 5
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Deliberate Disguises
Rating: T (rating varies by chapter; mature content will be tagged; regardless of rating, minors DNI)
Pairings: Echo x Riyo Chuchi; Gregor x OFC Cerra Kilian
Wordcount: 2.4k
Warnings: boundary stepping; use of alcohol as a coping mechanism; questionable fashion choices
Suggested Listening:
Summary: Echo and Cerra go on a supply run. Rex plans a recon mission.
A/N: This story shares continuity with Martyrs and Kings and "Do It Again," but all three fics can be read as stand-alones.
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Let me also wear such deliberate disguises
—T. S. Eliot, “The Hollow Men”
Echo observed Cerra curiously as she piloted the speeder toward the first stop of their supply run. He had overheard her conversation with Rex the day they’d brought Fireball to the shop, thanks to his cranial implant, and he had expected her to object to his presence. He’d been surprised when she didn’t pick up the argument again, though he did notice that she exchanged a quick glance with Gregor when Echo joined her in the speeder. The commando hadn’t said a word; merely smiled and handed Cerra a travel mug.
She sipped from it as she drove, and from the pleased expression on her face, Echo suspected that Gregor had gotten her caf just the way she liked. Privately, Echo wondered how her heart was still beating, given her caffeine intake. If he drank half as much caf as she did, he would vibrate out of his prosthetics.
The silence stretched out between them, and Echo cast about for something—anything—to say.
“Sooo. Supply officer?” he finally asked. When she’d mentioned her military service to Fireball, it had answered a few of Echo’s unasked questions about her.
“Yep. Stationed on the Resolute until it was destroyed at Sullust, and then reassigned to the Ro-ti-Mundi.”    
“Is that where you met Fives?” he asked curiously.
She laughed for the first time since he’d met her.
“He came in and submitted an official request for a crate of candy to boost morale,” she said. “I told him it would never get approved, but he was insistent. He came back, week after week, and filled out the official request form every single time. I sent them all in, and they always got denied. Finally, I just paid for it myself and had it delivered with my personal effects. I told him somebody down the line must have approved the request by accident.”
“That was you?” Echo gaped.
“Don’t tell me Fives dragged you into it, too!”
Echo shook his head. “I knew he had a crush on a supply officer and made up some excuse to keep seeing her. He never expected the candy to get approved. That’s why he picked it in the first place. He figured he could keep seeing you indefinitely if he kept requesting something impossible.”
“That’s ARC trooper material,” she smiled. 
She looked younger when she smiled. Less severe. Pretty. He wondered if she had always been as withdrawn and dour as she was now, or if she had been happier and livelier before the galaxy had gone to absolute shit. 
“You know, he distributed that candy to the entire legion,” Echo said.
“I know,” she said. “I had to keep ordering more to keep up with demand. I’m glad you two were off the Resolute by the battle of Sullust. If anyone on the Ro-ti-Mundi had found out about his little black market operation, I’d have gone bankrupt before the war ended.”
Echo considered this quietly for a moment. “That was very generous of you,” he said. “Thank you.”
She shrugged uncomfortably. “I was happy to do it. It was a small thing in the end.”
“But it meant a lot to all of us clones,” Echo said.
They lapsed into silence for a while as Cerra piloted them to their first stop. She parked the speeder, but before they disembarked, she spoke again in a low voice.
“He came to the supply office one last time, after Kamino,” she said. “He told me he was leaving for ARC training. That was the first time I kissed him.”
Echo’s brain skidded to a halt, and he gaped at her. “You were a couple?”
“Not right away. I didn’t see him again until after the Citadel.”
“Kriff,” Echo breathed.
“We stayed in touch. He commed me after Sullust to make sure I’d made it off the Resolute. He wanted me to meet you the next time he had shore leave. He said—he said he didn’t want to wait, that he’d realized we might not have time.”
“I’m so sorry,” Echo said.
“Me, too,” she replied.
And with that, she stood and led Echo to the first of many supply stops for the day. They did not speak about Fives again.
Cerra’s supply chain seemed to comprise the seediest black-market dealers imaginable. Echo wanted to ask how she’d managed to build a network of such dodgy connections given her respectable military family, but she seemed to regret her brief moment of openness, and he suspected she was unlikely to repeat it. 
Their last stop of the day ended in the two of them sprinting out of a squalid alley at top speed as one of her associates—er, make that former associates—unleashed a firestorm of blaster bolts at them.
“Does that happen often?” Echo asked once they safely zoomed away in the speeder.
“More often that Rex knows,” Cerra said with a shrug. “Don’t tell him about it. He’ll be insufferable if he finds out.”
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Back at the garage, Cerra unloaded the supplies and set to restocking their inventory of food, medicine, weapons, and ammunition. She worked alone, grateful for the solitude. She had cursed herself for confiding in Echo almost as soon as she opened her stupid mouth. She’d let Gregor talk her into it, but the conversation hadn’t made her feel any better. She just felt tired and overwrought. She hurried to finish unpacking the supplies, hoping that she could sneak off early to the barracks and get some rest.
Unfortunately, Rex found her first. Steeling herself for a lecture, she turned to face him, but to her surprise, he didn’t mention the small skirmish that Echo had pulled her out of. What he said was much worse.
“You up for a reconnaissance mission at 79’s?” he asked.
“What?” she asked sharply, panic lacing her voice. “No.”
It was one thing to spend all her time with Rex, Gregor, and now Echo. Rex was just Rex; she’d known him before she ever met Fives, and with his blond hair and clean-shaven face, the similarity wasn’t too striking, most of the time. She’d had plenty of time to get used to Gregor, and Echo had been through so many physical changes that he barely looked like a clone at all any more. But to go to 79’s—a gathering place for men who looked and sounded exactly like Fives—was unthinkable. She’d spent countless evenings at the club with Fives, Tup, Jesse, and Kix. She’d lost every single one of them, and she did not want to confront those memories. Not only that, but it was one of the last places Fives had gone before he was murdered.
“We need to know if our activities are drawing any unwanted attention,” he said. “If the clones are talking about it, we’ll hear it at 79’s.”
“I know you’re too recognizable, but why send me?” she asked, feeling her breath begin to spiral and struggling to bring it back under control. “Why not send Echo or Gregor? I can’t do it, Rex.”
“You’ll have to. Echo will draw too much attention,” Rex said. “And clones are more likely to run their mouths around a pretty woman than a trooper they don’t know. But Gregor will be going with you for backup. You’ll enter separately, and he’ll keep his distance unless things go sideways.”
Cerra swallowed thickly. “I guess I’d better comm Rafa and ask if I can raid her closet.”
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“Sure, I’ll let our roommate know you’re going to stop by so she doesn’t call the Corries. Wear whatever you want; it’s not like I’m using it,” Rafa said, her voice crackly and indistinct over the commlink
“Thanks, Rafa. I owe you one,” Cerra said.
“I just have one condition.”
“And what’s that?” Cerra asked with a sinking feeling.
“Send me a hologram to prove that you actually wore a dress,” Rafa laughed. “This I have to see.”
“I wear dresses,” Cerra said, stung. “I mean, I’ve worn dresses. Before. You know, during my lifetime.”
“Sure, sure,” Rafa said skeptically.
Cerra grumbled as she ended the comm.
“Gregor, I need you to help me pick something out,” she said. “It’s been such a long time since I’ve been interested in a man that I don’t remember how to dress for them.”
“Well, this should be entertaining,” he giggled as they drove to the Martez sisters’ flat. 
“Pick something stretchy, or I'll never be able to squeeze into it,” Cerra said. “And make sure it’s long enough to cover my scars.”
“Do they bother you that much?” he asked curiously.
“No, but if anyone is going to recognize a shrapnel scar, it’s going to be a bar full of clone troopers, and I don’t want to have to explain it,” she said.
“Fair enough,” he acknowledged. “At least stretchy is an option for you. I feel like I'm going to bust out of this jacket if I breathe too deep.”
Gregor was wearing an officer’s gray uniform that Rex had gotten from Force alone knew where. It strained tightly across his shoulders and chest, and it hung baggily around his waist. Clone commandos were quite literally built differently from the regular troopers due to their enhanced muscle mass, and it was nearly impossible to find a uniform that would fit him properly.
While Gregor rifled through Rafa’s closet, Cerra did her best to apply makeup. When she was younger, she’d been decent at it, but her skills were rusty with disuse, and the process ended up taking longer than she expected. She surveyed the results with ambivalence. It wasn’t bad, per se, but the face looking back at her from the mirror did not look like her own.
Maybe that’s a good thing, she thought. Less chance of being recognized.
Gregor had completed his assignment well before Cerra finished getting ready, and he was lounging on Rafa’s bed while he waited for her, sipping from a flask. He had selected a skimpy metallic dress, a fur jacket that Cerra sincerely hoped was fake, and a pair of ridiculously impractical high heels.
“Get your damned boots off the blankets, you heathen,” Cerra said as she unzipped her coveralls and stepped out of them.
Gregor smirked and flopped onto his back to stare at the ceiling while she changed. It was a sweet gesture, though this was hardly the first time he’d seen her in her undergarments; the whole team shared the barracks, after all, and she’d lost any sense of modesty when she was in basic training. She shimmied into the dress and turned her back to him.
“Zip me up?” she asked.
His warm fingers barely brushed against her skin as he cautiously eased the zipper upwards, careful not to pinch her. She turned to inspect her reflection. She glowered as she realized she wouldn’t be able to wear her bra with the outfit, then unclasped the bra and slipped it off without removing the dress.
“That’s a neat trick,” Gregor said, watching her with interest.
“Want me to teach you how to do it?” Cerra asked.
“Maybe some other time.” He frowned and looked searchingly into her eyes. “You good to do this mission?”
“What choice do I have?” Cerra asked.
“We could make Rex wear the dress and heels and send him in,” Gregor suggested. “Or I could just stun him for you.”
“Tempting, but not today,” Cerra said. She picked up the high heels and shot Gregor a disgruntled look. “How the kark am I supposed to run, let alone fight, in these stupid shoes?”
“You won’t need to, because I’ll be there to watch your back. All you have to do is not fall on your face,” he said. He passed her his flask of mystery liquor, and she took a healthy sip or three, wincing at the sharp burn.
“Kriff, that’s awful.” She sighed and scrubbed a hand over her shaved head. “Do you think I should wear a wig?”
“Nope,” he said, handing her a pair of large, ornate earrings. “Just put these on. You look hot as kark.”
She looked dubiously at her reflection. “I don’t know, Gregor.”
“Trust me,” he said. “Or if you want to test it out, let’s stop by the garage on the way to 79’s. If Fireball’s eyes don’t pop out of his head, I’ll buy the first round.”
Fireball’s eyes did not, in fact, pop out of his head, but they did bulge gratifyingly when Cerra walked into the repair shop, forcing herself to strut with a confidence she was far from feeling. Rex merely surveyed her impassively, but Echo’s mouth dropped open. 
Ha. Still got it. The warmth from Gregor’s liquor began to spread through her body, and she felt a small glimmer of optimism that maybe, possibly, she might actually be able to pull this mission off.
“Did you get the comms installed in the earrings?” Rex asked Gregor.
“Yes, and the holocam is in my rank insignia plaque,” Gregor said. “We should test them before we go.”
Rex fiddled with a datapad. “Go ahead.”
Gregor slid his hand across Cerra’s lower back and pulled her in close. Her eyes nearly drifted closed as his familiar, comforting scent washed over her. His breath fanned warmly against her neck, sending a wave of prickling awareness down her spine as he whispered in her ear. “Give us a twirl, babygirl. Fireball wants a show.”
Across the shop, Gregor’s voice crackled loud and clear from Rex’s datapad, and Fireball choked audibly. Cerra punched Gregor’s shoulder.
“Stop torturing the new kid, asshole,” she said. “And don’t call me babygirl. You can’t pull it off.”
Her voice echoed from the datapad, and Fireball looked like he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole as his gaze darted back and forth between Cerra and Gregor.
“He’ll live,” Gregor scoffed. “He’s just shocked to see this spectacular body you’ve been hiding under those coveralls. And I can absolutely pull off babygirl.”
“Cut the chatter,” Rex ordered, his voice tinny and distorted through the comm in her earring. “It’s time.”
Cerra rolled her eyes and sauntered out to hail a cab, while Gregor just shot Rex an impudent grin and a lazy salute. He took the speeder bike and arrived at 79’s before Cerra, as they’d planned. Her mouth went dry and her pulse spiked as she crossed the landing platform to the club’s entrance, where dance music blasted at a deafening volume. As she approached, the throbbing bass vibrated up her legs and buzzed in her chest, the sensation making her feel disoriented and ill. Wishing she could have another shot of Gregor’s liquid courage, she took a deep, steadying breath, and pushed through the doors.
---
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oh-three · 7 months
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Ahsoka Ep5:
Okay, the camera shots for the opening were perfect.
Omg, I forgot they left Huyang. That poor droid. "I told them to stay together. But they never listen." 😭
HIS FOOTSTEPS ARE ECHOING. TELL ME HE'S NOT VADER.
"One is never too old to learn, Snips." Yeah, you'd know.
Hey, that is Anakin's lightsaber after all.
"I won't fight you." "I've heard that before." 😭
Seeing Anakin in his ROTS era again, dueling someone, it's like time didn't go by at all. The nostalgiaaaaaa.
HE IS FORCE-SENSITIVE.
CHOPPER can't use the Force, Hera.
Does Jacen know he's Force sensitive?? Holy shit, he can hear them fighting
KANAN MENTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't believe it took them five episodes to mention him.
OKAY, ANAKIN. CHILL.
CLONE WARS FLASHBACK!!!!!!!!!
HE HAS THE ARMOR.
LIVE-ACTION REX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also, that's totally Ryloth omg.
"Do you even want a Padawan?" Says Anakin, who'd claimed not to want one but had taken Ahsoka anyway.
There's something very significant here about Anakin walking away with his lightsaber in the same position as the one he'd had walking toward the Jedi Temple during Knightfall.
Huyang's description of Anakin as "intense" is so right lol.
SIEGE OF MANDALOREEEEEE
REX DIALOGUE.
Aww, Anakin praising Ahsoka over how Mandalore went.
OH. OH, THAT LIGHTSABER IS RED NOW.
BACK OFF, VADERKIN.
This scene is fucking awesome.
The musiccccccc.
The rising water, the peaceful gradualness of it, reminds me of the Living Waters of Mandalore from Mando S3.
Also, the sunlight coming into the Ghost- it reminds me of that one scene of Andor.
remembers that no one knows what Sabine's done yet
HEY, SHE'S WEARING WHITE. Talk about rebirth. (the whole Gandalf thing)
Ahsoka standing there and sensing what happened between Sabine and Baylan.
"It's the fleet. They're on their way....I don't think they're coming to help." Yeahhh, we knew this was coming.
I see you up there, purrgil. Her plan is definitely to use the purrgil to help them follow Morgan.
They're literally just gonna use the purrgil to gtfo of there and deal with the New Republic when they get back Lmaooooo. Once a rebel, always a rebel.
Oh god, this scene is painfully peaceful. LOOK AT ALL THOSE PURRGIL. Now I'm sad all over again with the tragedies of Rebels S4.
Yep, that's a fleet, alright.
Carson being an MVP. The "oh boy" look on his face 😂
Man, the New Republic sucks.
Oh, so Hera did tell Jacen about Ezra and the purrgil.
Damnnnn, Disaster Lineage is at its finest right here. Flying into the purrgil's mouth for transportation between galaxies.
"It could go anywhere." That's half the fun, friend.
And they're offfffffffffff!!
Ahsoka is definitely living up to Rebels' legacy right now.
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phantom-of-the-501st · 9 months
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Echo and Rex Talking About Fives
I was rewatching Battle Scars and now the conversation between Rex and Echo about Fives makes even less sense to me. Or at least, Echo's reaction makes even less sense.
Echo knows that Fives is dead. That's pretty obvious because there is no way that he wouldn't know that. I also wouldn't be surprised if Rex was the one that told him what happened because he was there when Fives died and he's close to both of them. But regardless of whether or not he found out through Rex or through the files, he probably has some idea of the circumstances of Fives' death.
However, we also know that Echo doesn't know about the chips, which means that Rex can't have told him about Fives' warning. Because if he knew about his brother trying to warn everyone about the chips, you would've thought he would've mentioned it at some point or, at the very least, not have been surprised when the idea of chips was mentioned.
So this suggests two things about Echo's reaction to the death of Fives. One is that he hasn't dug through the files a whole lot because otherwise he probably would've found Rex's message about the chips. This would make some sense because obviously it would've have been traumatising for Echo to find out his brother had died and he may not want to look further into it. The other thing is that a lack of knowledge about the chips suggests that he doesn't know that Fives was shot because of what he was saying. So does Echo think Fives died from a virus? Or does he have zero clue on the context, just that his brother was shot?
And because of this, Echo's reaction doesn't make sense to me. If he didn't know about the chips, then why did he not have a stronger reaction to Rex's "Fives tried to warn me about the chips" comment. Surely, that would've been significant news to Echo. He just found out about these chips and now Rex is telling him that his brother already knew about them. That's a big revelation to get! Why does Echo seem so nonplussed by it?
His lack of surprise or interest would suggest that he already knew that Fives had warned Rex, especially with his "it's still hard to believe now" response. Except we already know that he had no idea about the chips! So why is he not asking Rex about why he's never brought this up before? And why is this not bringing up red flags about the situation surrounding Fives's death?
It doesn't make sense to me. His lack of surprise by Rex's is comment is either because he already knew about Fives and the chips, which he didn't because he'd never heard of the chips until TBB, or because he doesn't have that much interest in what Rex had just revealed, which also doesn't make sense. Rex has literally just told him (apparently for the first time) that Fives tried to warn everyone about the chips and Echo has no comment to make on this? At all??? No asking about when this happened, or how this might have linked to his brother's death, or why Rex has never brought this up before. Nothing. It actually does not make sense to me.
Am I missing something???
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