Of Course I Did

by WinterComet

Summary:

Bacara and Nova help Torrent rescue Rex and Obi-Wan from Kadavo. What he finds is worse than he was expecting.

Notes:

You can blame the Discord for putting this shiny idea in my head, it wouldn't leave me be!

My thanks to GoBayern16 and Everything_or_Anything for beta reading this! It wouldn't be coherent without you!
Also to Projie0506 for letting me borrow Krestor & Rothax!

Also, this chapter isn't super angsty but there are many feels. I'm saving the angst for the next few chapters.

Chapter 1

   “You’re going to be our alor, Cody,” Rex had said with a small smile. “I can’t risk you on an infiltration mission like this.”

   Now, a week after the undercover team of Obi-Wan, Rex, Skywalker, and General Secura left for Zygerria, Cody was regretting having ever let Rex go. There were already three Jedi, what did they need a clone for?

   He considered himself lucky that Rex had put his foot down when Ahsoka had originally been assigned to the mission. The young Togruta had been devastated at the loss of her people on Kiros. She felt it was her duty to help free them from the slavers. Rex adamantly refused to allow her to go undercover as a slave for sale, and the generals agreed. And so General Secura had been called in to replace Ahsoka, and Cody and Rex had to talk Bly down from going on the mission instead of Rex. Bly eventually came to agree he would blow their cover as soon as Aayla was even looked at wrong.

   “I don’t like it,” he murmured, almost to himself, but Waxer overheard him anyway.

   “Don’t like what, sir?” Waxer asked, as if he didn’t already know.

   Cody gestured at the holotable. “We should have heard from them by now,” he replied quietly, shooting a wary glance at the pacing Bly. “And since we got pulled away from the Chorlian sector, we’re not close enough to help should they need us.”

   The order for the 212^th and the 327^th to do a joint operation four systems away from where they were supposed to wait for the team came directly from GAR high command. Cody didn’t know why the Chancellor needed both battalions when one would have done, but it effectively took away the support Obi-Wan and the others might need. Torrent was waiting, but Cody preferred having two battalions present, just in case.

   Waxer hummed thoughtfully, and pulled up the holomap of Zygerria and the surrounding systems. Out of the corner of his eye, Cody noticed Bly stop pacing and make his way over to the holotable.

   One of the privileges of being a Marshal Commander was knowing where every company in the GAR was at any given time (excepting commandos and special forces squads). Much as he expected, the only GAR forces in the Zygerrian System were the 501^st. There didn’t appear to be any Republic forces in the immediate vicinity. Wait…

   “What’s that on Toola?” Bly asked before Cody could.

   Cody held his breath. Toola was just beyond the blockade, barely inside Separatist space. He tapped a heartfelt kot that someone was there who could help.

   The map zoomed in, and Cody exhaled a heavy sigh of relief. “The 21^st,” he realized with a smile. Cody turned to his long distance comm officer, Rang, “Can you comm Commander Bacara from here?”

   Rang hesitated, glancing at the map. “I may be able to, Commander, but I don’t know how stable the connection will be with him beyond the blockade.”

   Cody nodded sharply, “Try anyway.”

   “Hope we’re not catching him at a bad time,” Waxer muttered. Cody agreed, but didn’t say anything.

   Suddenly, the blue form of a helmeted Bacara popped up on the holotable. The image shook a little, then stabilized some, with bits of static corrupting the image occasionally.

   “…mander?” Bacara’s voice sounded far away.

   “Bacara, can you hear me?” Cody asked urgently.

   “I may not be able to keep the call, sir,” Rang interrupted. “The blockade and distance are interfering with the connection.”

   “Can we set up a relay with the 501^st?” Bly asked.

   The officer nodded instantly, “I’ll get that set up right away.”

   Cody turned back to Bacara’s flickering image. “Hold on, Bacara, we’re gonna try and relay with Torrent.” Bacara nodded once, then looked to his right and gestured towards something.

   “We’ve got Torrent, sir!” Jesse’s image popped up next to Bacara’s.

   “Jesse, I need you to relay this comm to Commander Bacara of 21^st Nova right now.”

   Jesse straightened to attention, “Yes, sir.” He turned to his left and gave the order to an unseen comm officer.

   After a minute, Bacara’s image stabilized and the call’s sound cleared enough that they could hear him say, “…ready to board.”

   “Bacara, can you hear me now?” Cody asked.

   Bacara looked up sharply and handed his holopad off to someone Cody couldn’t see. “I can hear you now, Commander.”

   Cody sighed, “Good. Are you still on Toola?”

   Bacara’s head tilted to the left, “We’ve just finished up our campaign and are getting ready to leave the planet.”

   “What are your next orders?” Cody prayed hard to the Force that his plan would work. He had a feeling there wasn’t much time left.

   Bacara was silent for a moment. He reached up and took his helmet off and clipped it to his belt. Cody could see the exhaustion lingering on Bacara’s face, try as he might to hide it. Bacara’s eyebrows were furrowed in apprehension. “We’re on our way back to Republic space so we can receive our latest round of orders. Cody, what’s going on?”

   There was nothing Cody wanted more than to be able to give Bacara good news, but that was wishful thinking as always. “I need you to meet up with the Resolute as soon as possible. Generals Kenobi, Skywalker, and Secura, along with Rex were assigned an undercover mission to Zygerria a week ago. They haven’t checked in yet, and the 212^th and the 327^th were called away. I want Torrent to have backup if they get the call to go get them before we can get back.”

   It was hard to tell with the blue color of the holocall, but Cody was very certain Bacara just went a few shades lighter in color. He normally had a very good sabacc face, but this time his eyes tightened with worry, his right hand clenching hard into a fist.

   “Where can we meet Torrent?” Bacara inquired through gritted teeth.

   Jesse piped up from where he had been standing silently. “I’ll have the coordinates sent to you immediately, Commander. You’re about two hours away from our location.”

   Bacara glanced off to the side at a muffled sound and nodded. “We’ll be off-world in less than an hour. Expect us in three, Lieutenant.”

   “Yes, sir.” Jesse turned to Cody, “We’ll keep you updated if we hear anything, Commander.”

   “Thank you, Jesse.” Cody turned to Bly and Waxer, “All we can do is wait,” he said miserably.

---

   The two-hour flight from Toola to where the Resolute was sitting in empty space a few parsecs from Zygerria felt like the longest two hours of Bacara’s life. Keller had tried to get him to take a nap for the trip, but he was feeling far too anxious to do anything but try and keep busy. He’d had time to visit his wounded in the medbay and catch up on some outstanding paperwork before they had come out of hyperspace.

   Now in the hanger bay, getting ready to load into a transport and fly over to the Resolute, there was no other choice for Bacara but to face the upcoming crisis head on. “Ask for volunteers,” he told Rothax. “No more than fifty. And make it very clear that this is a non-sanctioned mission and there will be no penalty for choosing not to go if we’re needed.” Bacara put his helmet on and sealed it in place. “If all goes well, we won’t be needed.” Rothax shot him a when has anything ever gone well look but nodded agreement.

   “Good luck braving Torrent, sir,” Rothax said cheekily, tapping his bracer twice.

   The look Bacara gave him through his visor could have curdled bantha milk. With Much Dignity, he ignored his armorer and joined Keller and Krestor on the transport.

   Jesse, Kix, and a small Togruta that could only be the Ahsoka Rex had mentioned were waiting in the hanger when they landed. While Jesse and Kix were able to hide their worry, Ahsoka was having a much harder time. Her face practically radiated fear and worry. Bacara felt an uncomfortable urge to hug her, and repressed it quickly.

   “What happened, exactly?” Bacara asked Jesse quietly.

   Jesse straightened slightly. “Last week we were sent out to help the people of Kiros against a Separatist invasion, but we got there too late and the people were gone. They were taken to Zygerria to be sold as slaves.” He put a comforting hand on Ahsoka’s shoulder when she shivered. “The mission Rex and the Generals went on was to sneak in, find out where the Togrutans were being held, and call for us to rescue them.” His jaw clenched in frustration, “But it’s been eight days now, with no word from any of them.”

   That…was worse than Bacara had been expecting. Rex was in the hands of slavers, and had been for over a week. While he hadn’t seen the Zygerrian flavor of slavery, he’d been on several planets who practiced the evil system. And to think of his cyare in conditions such as those…

   A beeping from Jesse’s comm grabbed all of their attention. “Jesse, we’ve got Generals Skywalker and Secura on bridge comms.”

   “Hold them there, Hardcase,” Jesse ordered, already turning for the lift. “We’ll be there in less than a minute.”

---

  
   The bruised and battered images of Generals Skywalker and Secura greeted them when they exited the lift.

   “Generals,” Jesse said in relief. “It’s good to see you.”

   “How badly are you injured?” Kix interjected. “And when can I expect you back on the Resolute?”

   “We’re fine.” The brittle smile Skywalker gave them indicated he was very much not fine, but what did Bacara know? “We won’t be coming back to the ship just yet. Right now, I need you to meet us on the planet Kadavo. That’s where they’re holding Obi-Wan and Rex, and we need to get them before they and the colonists are killed.”

   Bacara’s heart felt like it was sinking into his chest, and all of a sudden, it was difficult to breathe correctly. A solid press against his shoulder almost made him flinch. He glanced to his right to see Krestor casually pressing his shoulder against his without looking in his direction. The steady reassurance pulled him back into himself, and he leaned back in gratitude.

   Luckily, no one seemed to have noticed his mental absence, as Jesse, General Skywalker, and General Secura were still coming up with a plan.

   “So we’ll have Torrent and 212^th fighters provide air support for our transports,” General Skywalker was saying.

   “Actually, sir,” Jesse cut in. “The 212^th and the 327^th aren’t with us anymore.”

   General Secura looked concerned, “What do you mean? They were to stay and wait with you.”

   Jesse looked uncomfortable, but pressed on. “They were recalled after the third day by GAR high command to another mission. Commander Cody just commed a few hours ago letting us know they were finished, and on their way back here.” Left unsaid was that they wouldn’t get there in time. “But,” he continued before Skywalker could interrupt, “Commander Cody was able to contact Commander Bacara here of the 21^st Nova to provide us with support.” It was with a small measure of glee that he gestured to Bacara, who had remained unseen until that moment.

   Bacara understood why the Scout sometimes drove Rex crazy. He was going to drive Bacara to murder.

   Skywalker looked surprised, and then recognition entered his eyes. “Rex will be thrilled,” he said with a genuine smile. “He talks very highly of you Commander.”

   And…there wasn’t much he could say to that. “Thank you, sir.” Bacara said stiffly. “He speaks very highly of you as well, General.”

   “Do you have pilots in your battalion, Commander,” General Secura inquired, softly amused.

   “No, sir,” Bacara answered. “We are primarily an infantry and armor battalion. I can provide ground troops as needed.”

   General Skywalker nodded thoughtfully. “It shouldn’t be a problem,” he said. “Okay Jesse, we’ll use Blue Squadron instead. Ahsoka, you’ll be in command of them. Keep the transports safe and knock out any anti-air artillery they may have.”

   Ahsoka nodded sharply, “Yes, Master.”

   “Jesse, you and Commander Bacara will lead the ground team. Master Secura and I will already be on the ground when you arrive. Meet up with us and we’ll find Obi-Wan, Rex, and the colonists.”

   “Yes, sir!” Jesse and Bacara replied. Skywalker gave a jaunty salute and the communication cut out.

   Bacara didn’t intend to waste any time. “I’ll get about fifty of my Novas over here in the next two minutes,” he told Jesse. “I want to be on our way in five.”

   “Yes, sir!” Jesse said cheerfully. He turned to Nav, “Send the coordinates to the Steadfast and be ready to jump into hyperspace on my mark.”

   “Aye, sir!”

   Bacara turned to see Keller and Kix talking quietly in a corner near the lift. His chest lightened to see the two catching up; they hadn’t seen each other since he recommended Kix to Rex for his CMO.

   “Rothax,” he said into his internal helmet comm.

   “Yes, Commander?”

   “How many volunteers were you able to find?”

   A snort came over the comm, “Commander, everyone I asked volunteered. All of Nova wants to help rescue your cyare. The trouble was narrowing it down to fifty.”

   A well of emotion choked Bacara momentarily. Rothax seemed to guess what the problem was, as he continued on. “I’m going to send them over now; they’ll be there in a minute. Don’t worry about anything here on the ship, Commander. I’ve got everything here taken care of.”

   Bacara huffed, “Thank you Sergeant. I’ll remember this.”

   “Hey, I haven’t forgotten how Torrent took care of us when you came to Commander Cody,” Rothax said. “This is one mission we’ll do gladly.”

   Later, when Bacara stood apart watching his Novas mingle with Torrent, he felt something like a phantom pain to his right, where Rex would have, should have, stood.

   Hold on Rex, he thought. We're coming for you.

Chapter 2

Summary:

Bacara gets a glimpse of what Rex and Obi-Wan have gone through. The rescue is underway.

Notes:

Angst ahoy!

This is where it gets Not Fun, so use caution!

My thanks to wanderingjedihistorion for letting me borrow Nav!

   His Novas settled, and both the Resolute and the Steadfast underway, Bacara made his way up to the bridge to see if they could get some intelligence on the facility they were  going to destroy. Upon his arrival, he found Jesse had had the same thought, and was already working on gathering intel.

   “What do you know so far?” Bacara asked quietly.

   Jesse replied in kind, “It’s a processing facility. Not meant for long term production as far as we can tell, more of a way station for slaves.” He bit the word out in disgust. “But it is pretty heavily guarded. There’re six anti-air artillery turrets, four in the front, two in the back. We’re not sure the number of guards.”

   “Be really nice if we could see inside,” Bacara muttered.

   “Dogma’s already working on it,” Jesse said with a small smirk.

   Kix came up to stand on Bacara’s left. “Keller asked me to tell you he’s heading down to check on your Novas.”

   “Thanks Kix.” Bacara turned to eye the medic, “How have you been enjoying Torrent?”

   “Have I said, ‘thank you’ yet?” Kix asked dryly.

   Jesse turned to face both of them, “Wait, you knew each other?”

   “He’s the one who recommended me to Rex,” Kix told him. “I worked with his company before I was in Torrent.”

   “Huh, small GAR,” Jesse said thoughtfully. “So Commander, that means you knew Kix when he was a shiny?”

   “Don’t you start Jesse,” Kix warned. “This is not the time for-”

   “Lieutenant!” Dogma called from across the room. “We’ve got eyes in the facility!”

   “Put it on the holo table,” Jesse ordered, and the three officers gathered around.

   Bacara quickly sent a comm to Keller and Krestor to come up so they could help strategize.

   The video that emerged appeared to be security feed of a large room. There were six Zygerrians at computer stations, two guards at the door, and what appeared to be a fat Zygerrian floating around on a hover chair.

   “Can we get sound?” Bacara asked Dogma.

   “I’ll know in two, no, one minute, sir,” Dogma answered, not having turned around to reply.

   The lift opened, and Keller, Krestor, and a bald, tattooed officer (Hardcase, Bacara’s memory helpfully filled in) came out. Bacara barely paid attention to his officers planting themselves behind him as he watched Hover Chair lift his arm and say something he couldn’t hear.

   Suddenly, he could hear the doors to the large room whoosh open.

   “We’ve got sound,” Dogma announced unnecessarily.

   The declaration was drowned out by the roaring fury in Bacara’s head as he got his first glimpse of Rex in eight months.

   His cyare was hunched over in obvious pain from what was most likely broken ribs. The Zygerrian behind him hit him with his electrostaff, and Rex grunted as he was knocked down the stairs to fall on his knees in front of Hover Chair. Rex’s face was bruised, there were cuts all over his head, and one eye was completely sealed shut with dried blood, while the other looked to be half swollen. His breathing was ragged, and there was a thrice-cursed slave collar around his neck.

   “Why Master Kenobi, don’t you know it’s rude not to look at your gracious host?” Hover Chair mocked.

   Bacara reluctantly dragged his attention to the Jedi next to Rex. Sure enough, Kenobi was looking at the ground. While he looked nowhere near as bad as Rex, Bacara could see evidence of torture on him as well.

   “Ahsoka, you need to leave. Now.” Jesse ordered urgently. Bacara hadn’t even realized she was still on the bridge.

   “What?” Ahsoka cried. “You can’t make me leave! I need to see what happens to Rex and Master Obi-Wan!”

   Jesse just glanced at the vod behind her, who nodded and physically picked her up and took her to the lift. Bacara agreed, she didn’t need to see what happened next.

   “Master Kenobi.” Somehow, Hover Chair’s voice grew more threateningly charming. “You know what happens when you don’t obey orders.”

   Slowly, with great reluctance, Kenobi raised his head and met Hover Chair’s eyes. Kenobi’s eyes were filled with anger, very much bordering on hate; but with a resigned look, like he knew what was coming next and couldn’t stop it.

   “Hmm, that’s not a nice look. Very disrespectful, Master Kenobi. I’m afraid that won’t do.” He pushed a button on his hover chair with a vindictive smile.

   Next to Kenobi, Rex’s collar lit up and pulsed with electricity. Bacara stood there in horror and rage as his cyare screamed – screamed – in pain. Bacara had never known Rex to scream in pain, not even when he had accidently broken his neck.

   Kenobi threw himself onto the ground and prostrated in front of Hover Chair. “Please, Keeper, stop!” He begged. Some distant part of Bacara’s brain marveled at the sight of a Jedi begging for Rex’s -for any clone’s- well-being.

   Finally, finally, the Keeper pushed a button on his chair and the electrocution stopped.

*            *            *

   Jesse's POV

   The video, and the bridge, was deathly silent except for the sound of Rex’s sobs as he tried to recover.

   “Sir,” came the soft, shaky voice of Nav came from behind Jesse. “We’ll be coming out of hyperspace in five minutes.”

   “Understood Nav,” Jesse replied hoarsely. He knew they had to get ready to descend, but he was very much in shock.

   A glance around the room told him he was far from the only one. Kix was a mixture of agony and fury, which Jesse fully understood, as it was how he felt as well. Hardcase looked like he wanted to cry, but it was slowly being burned away by rage. The two Nova Commanders were just angry, and one of them, the medic, had his hand clamped down on Commander Bacara’s shoulder.

   Jesse clocked the look in Commander Bacara’s eyes and shivered. He hadn’t heard much about The Marine, only the bits and pieces that made it out of the Outer Rim legends. It didn’t take much to realize that’s who he was looking at now. Any warmth, any humor that had been in those eyes was gone. All that was left was a glacial wrath that seemed to pour from every ounce of the Commander’s being. He was ready to kill, and Jesse was not about to get in his way.

   While he had been observing the room, Count Dooku of all people had appeared on the screen and was talking to General Kenobi.

   Jesse reluctantly cleared his throat. “We need to get down to the hanger.” He turned to Dogma, “Send the audio to our helmet comms, keep recording the video, but take it off the holotable.”

   He made eye contact with Kix and Hardcase and nodded towards the lift. As they made their way off the bridge, he considered the Novas. There was no way he was going to try and move Commander Bacara; he was crazy, not stupid, no matter what Kix said. The Scout, Krestor, leaned in and whispered something Jesse couldn’t hear. Bacara nodded once, stiffly put his helmet on his head, and stalked towards the lift. Was it cowardice to not want to be in a lift with someone who looked like he would gladly rip a natborn’s head from its shoulders? Maybe, but Jesse’s never considered himself a coward, so he donned his own helmet and into the lift he went.

   It was a quiet ride to the hanger bay. Dooku and General Kenobi were bickering with each other, which made Jesse roll his eyes from the safety of his helmet. There were better times to bicker, like when you weren’t under risk of torture, General.

   As they arrived at the hanger, Jesse saw the transports were already loaded and the fighters manned and ready to go. Ahsoka was in her personal fighter, looking somewhat aggravated, but Jesse felt absolutely no guilt for forcing her from the bridge. Rex would have flayed him alive had he let her stay.

   “Three minutes,” Nav’s quiet voice came over his helmet comm as Jesse jumped in a transport next to Kix. Hardcase was staying with the Resolute to help lead the air assault and rescue.

   The atmosphere in the transport, and the hanger at large, was tense. It was eerily quiet; the banter that usually took place before a battle was gone. Jesse was superstitious enough it didn’t sit right with him.

   He opened the public comm. “Hey Fives, bet I can clear out more Zygerrians than you.”

   The affront in Fives’ voice was clear and immediate. “No way, Jesse. Two pudding rations says I get twice as many.”

   “You personally?” Jesse teased, “You know you can’t count all of Domino as yourself, right?”

   As expected, indignation from all of Domino came over the comms. Jesse saw the Torrents in both transports begin to relax. The Novas shuffled in confusion, though Jesse could have sworn he heard a few close to him stifle laughs.

   “Please,” an unknown vod interrupted. Jesse’s HUD told him it was a Nova named Wolf. “Like any of you Torrents are gonna out-kill a Marine.”

   And like a dam had burst, Torrent and Nova were going back and forth over who was better and who was going to do more. Jesse looked up and saw Commander Bacara's helmet facing his direction. To his shock, Commander Bacara tilted his head in approval, and all Jesse could do was nod back.

   “Thirty seconds everyone,” Nav’s announcement immediately cut through the banter. “Oya Torrent! Oya Nova!”

   “OYA!” Came the shouted reply.

   Jesse switched his helmet over to the sliced audio. Generals Skywalker and Secura had arrived, and General Skywalker was arguing with General Kenobi over negotiating with slavers.

   “Anakin, you must realize this is a fight you cannot win alone,” General Kenobi said in exasperation.

   “Who said I was alone?”

   With the perfect timing Jesse had come to expect from General Skywalker, the Resolute and the Steadfast dropped out of hyperspace. The transport doors slid shut and the transports moved out. Within thirty seconds of coming out of hyperspace, they had cleared atmo and were making their way to the slaver facility. Jesse quickly opened up the general comm, leaving the sliced audio up so he could hear both.

   “Blue Leader to Blue Squadron,” Ahsoka’s voice came over, “Accelerate to attack speed.”

   “This is Hawk, we’re going in.” Pilots, Jesse shook his head fondly, they were a different breed.

   As the aerial bombardment began, General Kenobi shouted, “Rex, now!”

   And Jesse was never more happy to hear his Captain’s voice say, “It’s about time.” (He was just going to ignore that Rex’s voice was raspy and his breathing thready.)

   As the transports approached the facility, Ahsoka shouted, “Those towers are ray shielded!”

   Jesse frowned. “Cutup, Droidbait, Heavy. Take three squads and clear out the shield generators.”

   “Yes, sir!”

   “General, the towers are ray shielded,” Jesse reported. “We’ll be landing soon, and Domino is going to take care of the four towers out front. Can you get the two in the back?”

   “Not a problem,” Skywalker grunted and the sound of something heavy fell to the floor. “Master Secura is going to head for the colonists. I can feel the control room is where Obi-Wan and Rex are; it’s to the right when you come in the main entrance. Happy hunting.”

   Jesse’s grin was fierce under his helmet, “Oya General!”

Chapter 3

Notes:

This chapter was so incredibly difficult to write, but I hope ya'll enjoy it!

Also, this is going to hurt, so be prepared.

   Hearing Rex’s voice only calmed Bacara down to the point where he was no longer shaking in fury. He was conscious of Keller’s strong hand on his shoulder and Krestor pressed against him in the transport. Soon. Twenty seconds, and he’d be on the ground and that much closer to Rex.

   Finally, finally, the transport doors opened and Bacara and his Novas hit the ground running.

   “Keller, you’re with me,” Bacara ordered. “Krestor, take Nova and go left, clear out any Zygerrians and help anyone in a slave collar out and back here to the transports.” He knew Kix was very good, but it would make him feel better to have his own medic present.

   The door to the facility had a giant hole cut into it, the edges of which were still glowing orange. Bacara glanced at Jesse as he, Kix, Fives, and Echo approached the door.

   “General Skywalker,” Jesse said by way of explanation.

   Huh, the conveniences of having a Jedi around. Who knew?

   It was a small squad that entered the facility, but Bacara knew three ARCs, one sniper-medic, and two Commanders were more than enough for whatever resistance they might encounter. And to his slight surprise, they didn’t encounter much.

   Everything was going as planned as far as he could tell over general comm. Bacara switched to the channel that held the sliced audio, hoping to hear some good news from Rex.

   From the sound of things, there was some heavy fist-fighting going on, which worried Bacara to no end since he knew Rex’s ribs were broken. But then, Rex was like Bacara in that he would fight until he couldn’t any more. And not being able to fight now was a death sentence.

   “No!” Cried General Kenobi, and Bacara’s heart stopped. The Keeper chuckled darkly, but didn’t say anything.

   “The controls are destroyed Ahsoka,” Kenobi’s voice was annoyed, but not panicked. Bacara felt some of the tension leave his body in relief. “There’s nothing we can do from here.”

   “But Master Kenobi,” Ahsoka protested. “We can’t move the Resolute into position until those cannons are destroyed!”

   “Don’t worry about the cannons Ahsoka,” Skywalker ordered. “We’ve got that taken care of. Just make sure that cruiser gets down here in time.”

   The sound of fighting continued in Bacara’s ear. The lack of enemy presence meant one thing: they were heading to the control room. He picked up the pace slightly, and without hesitation everyone behind him sped up as well.

   “Incoming!” Rex shouted hoarsely.

   “He’s going to kill himself fighting in that condition,” Kix muttered angrily.

   Keller snorted, “He’d be dead if he didn’t.”

   “Enough!” Bacara snapped. Immediately the two medics simmered down, glancing at each other in concern at the commander’s loss of composure.

   They continued down the hall, occasionally meeting resistance from Zygerrians, but moving at a quick pace. Bacara hid behind a pillar at the corner of a hallway. He pulled a small mirror from his hip pouch and extended the handle out to see around the corner.

   “Eight hostiles,” he informed the others. “Evenly divided on either side of the hallway.”

   “According to the schematics, the control room should be at the end of this hallway. One hundred-fifty yards, ” Echo informed.

   They moved swiftly around the corner. The Zygerrians barely had time to process their presence before they were on the ground, blaster shots centered on foreheads or over the heart. With the practice of many battles, Bacara heard and ignored the announcement that the towers were down and the Resolute beginning its descent to pick up the hostages as they moved past the downed guards.

   The control room was one hundred yards away when Bacara heard the Keeper say, “Come now, Master Kenobi. I know a Jedi won’t kill an unarmed man.” The smugness in the Keeper’s voice was made worse by Bacara’s knowledge that he was right. If Mundi was anything to go by, the Keeper would be let off with a warning.

   As they approached the door to the control room, Bacara heard a thud, followed by a pained groan. The doors opened and he heard in stereo, “I’m no Jedi.”

   A quick assessment of the room saw the Keeper with an electrostaff in his abdomen, not yet dead. With no hesitation, Bacara lifted his rifle and shot the bastard in between the eyes. To his surprise, General Kenobi gave him a small smile instead of the judgement and disappointment he expected. A quick sweep of the rest of the room proved all enemy combatants down, and that brought his attention to Rex.

   Bacara felt like his heart was going to rip in two at the sight of his cyare. Rex was bent over double with his back to the door. And his back… His back looked to have been ripped to shreds, no doubt from the whips the guards carried around.

   Slowly, ever so slowly, Rex turned to see who had come in behind him. His eyes widened in shock. “Bacara,” he whispered hoarsely. Unable to stand anymore, Rex fell to his knees, wheezing in pain.

   Kix and Keller rushed forward to examine him. Bacara was right behind them, and kneeled down behind Rex to cradle his head gently. He was grateful for his helmet; Bacara wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep his fear and alarm from showing. It was all he could do to keep his hands from shaking as he stroked Rex’s hair. He was determined to be as close as possible, but stay out of the way.

   “What are you,” Rex hissed in pain, “doing here?”

   “Someone mentioned you got in over your head again and needed a little help,” Bacara tried to tease, but it felt weak; he wasn’t much in a teasing mood. He lowered his head to meet Rex’s forehead. “Did you really think I wouldn’t come when you needed me? You know me better than that.” Rex tried to huff a laugh, but it turned into a grimace of pain.

   “Four broken ribs,” Kix noted. “Three right: one upper, two lower. One upper left. Be careful not to move too much, sir. You can’t afford a punctured lung.”

   “Scanner shows the beginnings of some internal bleeding in his abdomen.” Keller moved the scan up to Rex’s chest. “His heart’s not looking too good either. We need to get him out of here ASAP.” He looked over at Bacara, “Do you want us to carry him, or you?”

   Kriff. He wanted nothing more than to hold Rex close and protect him. But it would be better that he makes sure Rex gets to the transport safely, and he can’t do that by carrying Rex. “You carry him,” Bacara ordered with reluctance.

   “Crash,” Jesse’s voice came from behind him. He had been standing guard while Bacara was distracted with Rex. “We’re ready to come out. Get the transport ready for immediate evac to the Resolute.” Good man, Jesse.

   “Yes sir!”

   Distantly, word that the colonists and several more slaves had been loaded on the Resolute filtered to Bacara’s ears. They didn’t have much time before they blew this facility off the face of the planet.

   Kix and Keller each got an arm under Rex’s shoulders and lifted him to his feet. But as much as they tried to be careful, Rex groaned in pain that ended in a stifled sob as he stood upright. Kix looked like he was going to stop, but Rex shook his head stubbornly.

   “Get me out of here,” he ordered, albeit in a whisper.

   “Quite so, Rex.” Kenobi stood at the door, lit lightsaber in hand. He didn’t look very good either, now that Bacara could see him clearly. But Rex was right, they needed to leave quickly.

   Two Zygerrians tried to block their path, but were killed by reflected blaster shots from Kenobi’s lightsaber. Once again, Bacara was glad his helmet hid his face, as he knew the astonishment he was feeling was all over his face. Since when did Jedi kill sentients?

   They reached the hole Skywalker had made in record time. Fives and Echo exited first, each going to opposite sides of the outside entryway to cover them. Kenobi followed them, lightsaber lifted in preparation of any wayward shots. For the sake of speed, Kix and Keller lifted Rex’s legs and sidestepped out of the exit. Bacara forcefully ignored the cry of pain that left Rex’s lips and followed them with Jesse.

   Together, they made their way to the waiting transport. Out of the corner of his eye, Bacara noticed three Zygerrians scrambling on the roof of the facility to get in position to snipe at their escape. Without much thought, all three were down with three shots to their heads. He ignored the look he could feel Jesse giving him, as well as the muffled “Wow” from either Fives or Echo. As soon as all of them made it inside the transport, the doors shut, and they took off.

   Bacara breathed a sigh of relief; they had done it. Rex was safe. Maybe not sound, but he was safe. Carefully, he kneeled next to where the medics had laid him on the floor of the transport. Rex’s eyes fluttered as he turned his head.

   “Cara?”

   Bacara took off his helmet so Rex could see him clearly and raised an eyebrow. “Cara?”

   Rex didn’t flinch as Keller inserted an IV port into his arm. “’s easier,” Rex slurred. His eyes fell shut. Bacara waited several heartbeats for Rex to say more, but the silence grew.

   “Rex?” Bacara reached a hand down to cup Rex’s face, stroking his thumb across Rex’s cheekbone unconsciously. Panic began to set in when Rex didn’t respond.

   Kix was right next to him with two fingers on Rex’s neck within seconds. He swore softly, “He’s going into shock. Echo, put your helmet under his feet.” As Echo did so, Kix pulled out his scanner and paled when he read the results.

   Bacara had been around enough medics to know they never visibly showed concern to their patients and the men around them. Kix’s worry was now clear on his face, and when he showed Keller the results of the scan, Keller cursed.

   Keller never cursed when actively working on patients.

   Swore, yes. Especially if said patient was being difficult or they were a repeat offender. (Bacara was often the recipient of said swearing.) But there was a subtle difference between swearing at someone, and cursing circumstances, or in this case, results.

   The panic in Bacara turned to outright terror. He could feel his breathing pick up, and struggled desperately to try and calm his breaths. The what-ifs started to pour into his mind. What if they were too late? What if there was permanent damage? What if Rex didn’t wake-

   No. Bacara shook his head roughly to get those thoughts out of his head. Rex was strong, he would get through this.

   “His blood pressure is dropping, and his pulse is thready and weak,” Kix reported. “Fives, hold this scanner. Tell me if his heart stops beating.”

   “Crash,” Kenobi shouted from nearer to the cockpit. “Get us to the Resolute. Now! Tell them to clear a path to medbay.”

   Bacara didn’t hear the pilot’s reply. He focused on the shallow breaths Rex was struggling to make. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. Down. Down. No!

   “He’s stopped breathing!” Keller shouted. He tilted Rex’s head back and lifted his chin. “Commander, I need you to breathe for him. Two short breaths, one second apart, every six seconds.”

   After being unable to do anything but sit there, quietly going to pieces, the orders were a relief. Bacara immediately bent down, pinching Rex’s nose shut and sealing his lips over Rex’s mouth. One short puff of air – a glance showed Rex’s chest moved – and then another. Count out six seconds, and again. He repeated this over and over, until he was pushed back by Kix.

   “His pulse has stopped, beginning CPR.” Kix placed both hands on Rex’s chest and pressed down, hard and quick, for thirty compressions.

   “Breathe,” Kix snapped at a stunned Bacara.

   He quickly leaned down and delivered two more short breaths. There was a lump in his throat, and Bacara’s eyes were burning. It took him a few moments to realize that there were tears forming in his eyes.

   Keller was slicing a vibroblade down Rex’s chest, cutting away the clothes from his body, and then slapping an adhesive pad to his upper right chest and one to his lower left chest. Keller quickly attached some wires and hooked them up to a small monitor.

   “Ventricular fibrillation,” Keller said. He watched the monitor urgently. “Stand clear!”

   “Clear!” Kix echoed, pulling Bacara back quickly.

   Keller pressed a button on the monitor and Rex’s body flinched in response. Kix immediately began resuming CPR and Bacara numbly counted out the compressions until it was time for him to breathe for Rex again. Kix stopped CPR briefly so he and Keller could check the monitor again.

   “No change, charging again.”

   Come on Rex, Bacara thought desperately, breathe. Come back to me. There was an arm making its way around his chest, pulling him away from Rex. Bacara struggled, but he was too weak with shock to get very far. Dimly, he realized the back of his neck was getting wet.

   “Stand clear!”

   “Clear!”

   “No change!”

   Come on Rex, don’t leave me.

Chapter 4

Notes:

And here we go! Another round of angst to fill your day!

Mando'a translations at the end.

   Hyperspace was the fastest form of travel known in the galaxy, and it still couldn’t get Cody to Kadavo any faster than six hours.

   He lay on his bunk, ostensibly to get some rest before they arrived. If it weren’t for the anxiety roiling in his gut, Cody might have been amused that his brother kicked him off his own ship’s bridge. Apparently, his pacing was annoying Bly who, while anxious himself for Rex, at least had the assurance that his Jedi was alright.

   The door to his room opened and Cody turned his head slightly to see Bly enter. “How’re you doing, Cody?”

   Bly was much too used to Cody’s sardonic look to do anything more than raise an eyebrow at him. “It’s an honest question.”

   That took the irritation right out of Cody. He sighed. “I know.” He sat up in his bunk and put his head in his hands. “It’s been three hours. I’d hoped we would have heard from someone by now.”

   Bly sat down next to Cody and put his arm around him. Cody leaned in, resting his head on Bly’s shoulder, grateful as always for his brother’s support. They sat there, taking comfort in each other’s company.

   “I don’t even know who I’m the most worried about,” Cody whispered. “I’m worried Rex wasn’t able to keep quiet. I’m worried that Obi-Wan’s Jedi status meant he was targeted and hurt worse. But Rex is a clone, and you and I both know how most of the galaxy views us. And–”

   “Cody,” Bly pulled back slightly and tilted Cody’s face to meet his. “I know.”

   And Cody could see the fear and the worry in his brother’s eyes, knew it matched his own.

   “Rex is strong. You’ve said it yourself, he’s the best of all of us. And from what you’ve told me, Kenobi is as stubborn as you are. Trust in them, and trust your brothers to get them out.”

   Cody reached up and gripped the back of Bly’s neck, and felt his brother do the same as he brought them into keldabe. “Thank you,” he sighed, “for reminding me.”

   “Our battles are yours, Kote,” Bly breathed, barely loud enough for Cody to hear. “But that doesn’t mean you have to fight them alone.”

   Before Cody could reply, his comm went off. His heart in his throat, Cody pulled away and lurched for his desk.

   It was Obi-Wan.

   The blue holo of his bruised and battered face sent rage coursing through Cody’s veins. “I trust whoever did this to you is no longer among the living.”

   To his left, Bly face-palmed and groaned.

   “Well hello to you too darling,” Obi-Wan greeted dryly. “So glad to see you’re okay. I was so worried about you.” He looked pointedly at Cody, who could feel his face turning red as the anger swiftly faded away into embarrassment.

   Valiantly ignoring his sniggering brother, Cody made an attempt at calm politeness. “Obi-Wan, I’ve.” He paused, reset. “Are you okay?” He couldn’t get past the swelling eye, the cut lip, the bruised jaw. The way Obi-Wan’s face seemed to be set in a permanent grimace.

   The way he winced when he went to answer. “I’ve been better. My dear, I’m afraid this isn’t a happy call.”

   Cody and Bly froze, then glanced at each other in concern. “Is Rex alright?” Cody asked urgently. Why wasn’t Rex with him?

   When Obi-Wan hesitated, glancing off to the side, terror shot through him. “Obi-Wan?”

   “He’s…not good,” his Jedi admitted. “He’s been in surgery for half an hour now. Kix, Coric, and Commander Keller of the 21^st are with him.” Cody felt Bly take his hand in a tight squeeze as Obi-Wan continued. “He – Cody, his heart stopped on the transport back to the Resolute.”

   It felt very much like Cody’s heart had done the same thing. He forced himself to continue listening.

   Obi-Wan sighed and ran a hand carefully over his face. “Kix and Commander Keller got him back, but it was a close thing.”

   “What happened to him?” Bly’s shaky, hoarse voice suddenly cut through the emotional fog in Cody’s head. He tilted the comm so Obi-Wan could see who was asking.

   The short laugh was slightly hysterical as Obi-Wan answered. “What didn’t happen?”

   The following five minutes left Cody feeling a previously unknown horror as his Jedi gave what was no doubt a very brief summary of their time in a slave facility. Rex’s time as a slave (and even the thought of that word in association with his baby brother hurt) consisted of whippings, beatings, electrocution, four broken ribs, sleep deprivation, dehydration, and starvation that led to severe exhaustion, internal bleeding, and an eventual punctured lung from Rex needing CPR with said broken ribs.

   “There were a few times they would drag Rex off and he would return looking worse than when he left,” Obi-Wan continued. He looked so defeated. “Ni ceta, Kote. This shouldn’t have happened.”

   “Ibac ne’gar dunar, ner jetti,” Cody replied dimly, automatically. And it wasn’t his fault, but Cody was conscious of the tears on his face and knew Obi-Wan wouldn’t believe him. He forced a deep, shuddering breath and wiped his face. “We should be arriving at Kadavo within,” he glanced at the time on the comm, “five and a half hours.”

   “Don’t go to Kadavo,” Obi-Wan said. “I’ve ordered both the Resolute and the Steadfast to Velmor. We needed to get away from that sector. I wasn’t comfortable with being so close to Count Dooku, especially since he knew where we were and how vulnerable our position was.”

   Bly was already on his own comm relaying orders to the bridge before Cody could say anything. There was a small shudder as the Negotiator came out of hyperspace abruptly.

   Cody turned back to Obi-Wan. “We’ve rerouted course.” He glanced at Bly who held up a hand sign in answer, “We’ll be there in three hours.” Which was still a long wait, but at least it wasn’t six anymore. And he could use that time to get a hold of his composure, which was getting shakier as the call went on.

   “Oh, darling,” Obi-Wan looked like he wanted nothing more than to wrap Cody in his arms. Cody could relate. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

   “You’d better be waiting in medbay,” Cody tried, knowing full well his cyare wouldn’t let someone look at him until it was forced.

   Obi-Wan gave a small, sad smile. “Of course, my dear. I’ll see you soon.”

   The call ended, leaving Cody feeling…lost. Rex had been hurt before; growing up on Kamino led to that, not to mention the various battles he’d been in. Cody knew how to deal with a hurt Rex. He did not know how to deal with a  Rex who was possibly – he cut the thought off with a rough shake of his head. Kix and Keller were some of the best medics in the field. Rex will be fine, he tried to reassure himself.

   Bly fell back against the bed, his hands buried in his hair as he tried desperately to hold back tears. Cody scooted back against the wall of his bunk and pulled him over into his lap for some Ponds-style cuddling.

   “He’ll be okay.” Cody’s voice was hoarse from the tears he too was trying to hold in. It struck him suddenly that there wasn’t anyone else in the room besides Bly. Why was he hiding his emotions from him? Bly knew, always had, how Cody was feeling. He bit back a sob and let the tears fall into Bly’s hair.

   His brother noticed. “Who’re you trying to convince,” he asked wetly. “Me or you?”

   “Both.” Both brothers chuckled wetly at the weak joke.

   Cody was grateful for his brother being there with him. He would have hated to try and weather the storm of emotions in him by himself. He froze. Speaking of brothers, Obi-Wan would be reporting to the Council soon, if he wasn’t already. All too often, Ponds and Wolffe were nearby when their generals were in a Council meeting.

   He quickly wiped his face, ushering a protesting Bly up. “We need to let Ponds and Wolffe know,” he answered Bly’s unspoken question.

   Bly swore. “I can’t believe I almost forgot they didn’t know.”

   “I’d prefer to wait until we knew more,” Cody said as he configured his comm for a three-way holocall, “but I don’t want them to hear from their generals before they hear from me.”

   If he was lucky (and chance would be a fine thing) both would be available and not in a battle or some other meeting.

   The comm rang, and surprisingly enough, Cody was lucky; both Ponds and Wolffe answered within seconds of each other.

   “Cody!” Ponds looked delighted at the interruption to his day. His gaze shifted. “And Bly! How wonderful to hear from you both! I’m almost at the Guard’s headquarters, so this’ll have to be quick.”

   “Trying to steal Blockade again, Pon’ika?” Wolffe hadn’t yet looked up from whatever he was doing. “How’s the Super-Secret-Mission-I-Definitely-Don’t-Know-About going, Cody?” When Cody didn’t immediately answer, Wolffe looked up. What he saw on Cody’s face, be it the tear tracks or the wet eyes, made him frown in concern. “Cody?”

   It looked like Ponds stopped moving. He was inside the Guard’s headquarters; Cody could distantly hear the continually ringing comms in the background. “What happened?” Ponds asked, the seriousness in his voice an abrupt change from his usual cheer.

   Cody took a steadying breath, willing himself to keep the fear out of his voice. “I’ve just heard from Obi-Wan. He and Rex were just rescued out of a slaving facility. Rex is…not good.” He winced at how mundane the words sounded.

   Wolffe and Ponds were silent as they processed his words. “What do you mean by “not good?’” Wolffe asked.

   Bly reached out and grabbed Cody’s hand in comfort. There was no way to say it nicely. “Rex almost died on the transport back to the Resolute.”

   Dead silence. Then a small, wounded sound escaped Ponds’ mouth and his image blurred with sudden movement. When it stopped moving, the vis sensor showed the floor of the Guard’s headquarters before Ponds managed to bring it back to his face.

   Wolffe hadn’t made a sound, and Cody was concerned. A quiet Wolffe was a very dangerous Wolffe.

   “Kix and Keller were able to bring him back,” Cody continued, his voice trembling, “but he’s in surgery right now and in critical condition.”

   Wolffe, his face a blank mask, got up from his desk and left the visual range of the comm unit. From off camera, Cody could hear a loud crash, and the horrifying sound of Wolffe screaming in rage and pain. Bly flinched next to him at the sound. When a slightly more composed Wolffe came back to his seat, Cody was distressed enough to not mention anything.

   Cody spent the next few minutes relaying what Obi-Wan had told him about Rex’s injuries and how he got them. About a quarter of the way through, Ponds began leaking tears, and nearly halfway through, Wolffe’s eyes got misty. Cody didn’t make it through without crying either. As it turned out, having to give the information was just as upsetting, if not worse, than receiving it.

   At some point, he wasn’t sure when, a hand appeared on Ponds’ shoulder. Cody was grateful someone (Fox, probably) was there with his brother when he needed support. He only wished Wolffe could let himself be vulnerable around his men and reach out for support from them.

   “I’m going to have Jesse give updates via Priority until Rex is out of surgery,” Cody told them. “Bly and I will be there in less than three hours. Do you have someone who can sit with you while you get updates?”

   Ponds glanced upwards. “Yeah,” his voice was weak. He winced and cleared his throat, his voice coming out much stronger. “Yeah, I have someone.”

   Cody looked at Wolffe, who was looking uncomfortable. “Wolffe?”

   “I’ll,” Wolffe’s eyes shifted to the side, “I’ll have someone.”

   Right. Cody gave him the flat, disbelieving stare it deserved. “I’ll send Sinker and Boost your way then.” Wolffe growled, but didn’t say anything.

   Cody felt exhausted, and there was still one more call to make. “I’ll call once we land and we know more. K'oyacyi vode.”

   The call ended, and Cody leaned back against the wall with a deep sigh. Bly scooted back more and pulled Cody into his arms, sensing his brother needed the comfort badly. They sat there for a few minutes, until Cody reluctantly pulled away and sat up.

   “Bacara,” he murmured. Bacara would know something, probably more than Jesse since he was one of Rex’s Remembrance Recipients. But when the call rang out with no answer, Cody frowned in concern.

   “Why isn’t Bacara answering? Kriff, I need to call Jesse. And add him to Priority,” he mumbled. His head was beginning to hurt; he needed rest.

   “I’ll add him to Priority,” Bly said gently. “You get an update so you can rest.”

   Cody glanced at Bly with a strained smile, “You too, vod.”

   The Jesse who answered the comm looked exhausted. Even through a holocall, Cody could see the Lt’s eyes were almost empty, and he forced himself not to panic just yet.

   It took a second or two for Jesse to realize who was calling him, then his eyes widened slightly in surprise and…dread? “Commander!”

   “Jesse,” Cody swallowed thickly. “What’s the word on Rex?”

   The scout’s eyes dimmed. “We haven’t heard anything new. He’s still in surgery, sir.”

   “Where’s Bacara?” And why wasn’t he answering his comm?

   Jesse sighed. “Coric came out about ten minutes into Rex’s surgery and said they needed Commander Bacara back there. It’s been around thirty minutes since then, sir.”

   Cody closed his eyes and sighed. At least Bacara was with Rex, which he knew would be a comfort to both of them. Bly nudged his shoulder and nodded at Jesse.

   “Bly has added you to Priority chat, Jesse.” Force, but he didn’t want to do this. “I’ll let them know why you’re there, but I want you to give out updates every half hour until either I get there, or Rex is out of surgery.”

   “I’ll make the update, Commander.” Jesse looked worried, and Cody was slightly shocked to realize the worry was for him. “You look like you’re about to pass out.” He hesitated, then pushed on, “Get some rest, sir.”

   Cody had to snort softly at the audacity of this trooper. Rex sure knew how to pick them. “As you command, Lieutenant.” He softened at Jesse’s panicked face. “Thank you, Jesse.”

   “You’re welcome, sir.” Jesse tried to smile, but it fell short. “I’ll keep you and Priority posted.”

   Shortly after the call ended, Cody and Bly were wrapped up together on Cody’s bunk, falling asleep to the sound of Priority alert going off.

Notes:

Mando'a Translations:
Ni ceta - sorry (lit: I kneel) grovelling apology
Ibac ne’gar dunar, ner jetti - It's not your fault, my Jedi

Chapter 5

Summary:

Those closest to Rex react to the news.

Notes:

So, fun fact, this was supposed to be three chapters. And here we are, five chapters in and more to go. When will it stop? I sure don't know!

My thanks to Projie for allowing me to borrow Blockade and Alpha-6, and for GoBayern16 for continuing to be a dear and beta reading for me!

   Ponds

   Thorn glanced over as the outside door opened and groaned. Ponds. No doubt there to cause mayhem and make Fox’s blood pressure either lower or rise exponentially. But he appeared to be on a holocall, and there was too much work to do for Thorn to spend too long not completing it. So with a shrug, he went back to work.

   It was only a very short time later that a clatter caught Thorn’s attention. Ponds had dropped his comm. He stared at it on the floor in shock before collapsing to his knees with a heavy thud. Thorn frowned. Something had happened. He put his flimsiwork aside and slowly rose from his desk. Across from him, Blockade had a concerned eye on the door while he fluidly went from one call to the next.

   Ponds, holding the comm in one hand, fell back against the wall and brought his knees up to his chest. A tortured expression covered his face. His free hand came up to grip the back of his head tightly; if he’d had hair, he’d be pulling it out. As it was, his fingernails bit deep, threatening to cut his skin. And at that point, Thorn knew there wasn’t anything he could do to help.

   Time to bring in reinforcements.

   He made his way back to Fox’s office. No meetings today, thank Fox’s bit of the Force, but the flimsiwork load meant it was always a busy day. A quick knock was followed by a short grunt. A good day for Fox then.

   “Hey, Fox.” The commander in question looked up irritably from the mountain of holopads surrounding him.

   “You better have a karking good reason for interrupting me Thorn,” Fox growled. Thorn tried to catch a glimpse of the level of caf in his cup, but was unsuccessful. Probably it was time for a refill.

   “Sir, Ponds is out in our lobby. He’s,” Thorn faltered as Fox’s head snapped up and fixed him with a glare. “He’s not good. I think he received some pretty bad news.”

   Fox sighed. “What the kriff do you mean by ‘not good’?” He snapped.

   The door opened behind Thorn. “Sir, you need to come out to the lobby.” Blockade to the rescue!

   “Again, before I lose what little patience I have left today.” Fox breathed deeply, “What. Is wrong. With Ponds?”

   Blockade wavered, then said, “He’s crying.”

  Thorn’s head snapped around in shock. Across the room, Fox’s composure was lost for the first time since Thorn had known him as he stared at Blockade with wide eyes.

   There was no further delay as Fox sidestepped his desk and stalked towards the door. Thorn and Blockade were quick to get out of his way as he stormed past them on the way to the lobby.

*          *          *

   The lobby at first glance didn’t look any different than every other time Fox had ventured out of his office. A second glance had his eyes narrowing as he saw the huddled figure near the lobby doors. As Blockade had said, Ponds was crying.

   It shook Fox, try as he might to ignore it.

   He had known Ponds for years, since they were Littles. Never, not once, in all those years of knowing had he seen Ponds shed a tear. Ponds had always been the deceptively cheerful brat for whom Fox bore a disgustingly warm feeling of affection. And he’d always been strong when Fox didn’t know he needed someone to lean on.

   And now he was sitting in Fox’s lobby, crying.

   Not quite full-on sobs. He was staring dully at the comm in his hand – Fox could make out the heads of two other vode – tears just streaming down his face. It was like he wasn’t conscious of them.

   Feeling weirdly out of his element (this wasn’t a crying shiny), Fox slowly made his way to Ponds. As he grew closer, he could see that it was Cody and Wolffe on the comm and Cody was the one talking. Careful to stay out of the visual range, Fox squatted down and rested a hand on Ponds’ shoulder. Ponds flinched, and Fox wondered if it were possible he hadn’t noticed his approach. Ponds had always had a kind of sixth sense when it came to Fox’s presence.

   From his position, the emotional vulnerability of both of Ponds’ batchmates was evident. Cody had the occasional tear falling while Wolffe – another vod Fox had never seen cry – appeared to be forcing back tears himself. There was someone else’s shoulder on Cody’s left, and while Fox couldn’t be certain, the color looked yellow, not blue. Bly, then.

   “…severely electrocuted, which put extensive strain on his heart,” Cody was saying. Karking hells, that meant that… “I’m going to have Jesse give updates via Priority until Rex is out of surgery.” Ponds’ baby bratling was in trouble. “Bly and I will be there in less than three hours. Do you have someone who can sit with you while you get updates?”

   Ponds glanced up at Fox who tightened his grip. “Yeah,” his voice was weak. He winced and cleared his throat, his voice coming out much stronger. “Yeah, I have someone.” He brought his hand up to grasp Fox’s wrist and squeezed. Fox snorted, but stayed quiet until Cody signed off.

   They stayed silent for a few seconds until Fox brought his other hand around to Ponds’ opposite shoulder and pulled him up to his feet. Ponds swayed at the sudden change in elevation and reached out to steady himself on Fox’s shoulder.

   “Come to my office and sit in an actual chair, di’kut,” Fox ordered with none of his usual hostility.

   Ponds just sighed and nodded, wiping his eyes quickly. Fox kept his hands on Ponds’ shoulders as he guided him past the reception desks all the way to the security of his office, where he shut the door after them. The silence continued as Ponds was ushered into a visitor’s chair and Fox made his way to a corner table. There, he quickly disarmed himself and went back to squat in front of Ponds.

   “Look at me vod,” he ordered quietly, taking one of Ponds’ hands. Slowly, Ponds’ dull gaze met Fox’s. “I need you to tell me where you are.”

   “I know where I am, Fox,” Ponds rasped harshly. “I’m not in crisis.”

   “You let me be the judge of that,” Fox retorted. “Where are you?”

   Ponds huffed irritably, dashing his free hand across his eyes in an attempt at tear removal. “Guard’s headquarters, your office, visitor’s chair.”

   “Good.” Unconsciously, Fox’s thumb rubbed back and forth over Ponds’ knuckles. “And two things you can see?”

   “The Balmorran rug I convinced you to get, and the desk made out of Nubian wood you insisted on.”

   Fox snorted. “Smartass. Fine, you’re not in crisis.” He went to pull away, but Ponds gripped his hand tighter. “Should’ve made you do the whole kriffin thing anyways,” he muttered, but stayed where he was.

   Ponds opened and closed his mouth a few times in aborted attempts to speak before he was able to get the words out. “Rex was on an undercover mission with his, Cody’s, and Bly’s Jedi. He and General Kenobi were captured, and Rex was…” he choked as he tried to fight back the tears. “Rex was tortured. Almost to death.” The tears came pouring down his cheeks as the sobs began. “He almost died. He could still die. He’s in surgery right now, but it’s bad Fox!”

   Fox cut in before the sobs could get any worse. “Hey!” He brought his free hand came up and grabbed Ponds by the shoulders and shook him. Hard. “Do you really think your CT is so weak as to die like that?”

   The harsh question broke Ponds right out of the despair and into outrage. “No!”

   “Then stop your karking blubbering,” Fox snapped. “No CT you raised is going to do anything but overcome any obstacle in his path. That includes near-death experiences.” He paused, considered. “And if you ever tell that blond CT I said that I’ll have to change the carpet…again.”

   Ponds giggled wetly, “He wouldn’t believe me anyway. And it is such a nice carpet.”

   Fox snorted. “Of course it is, I picked it.” Something suddenly occurred to him. “Did Cody mention telling Alpha-17?”

   Ponds froze in horror. “No,” he breathed. “And he’s going to find out from Priority! Fox! I need to–”

   “Sit there and calm the kriff down,” Fox finished for him. “Don’t worry about 17.”

   Ponds looked dubiously at Fox, but acquiesced, finally letting go of Fox’s hand and curling up in the surprisingly comfortable visitor’s chair. The sudden emotional outburst had his eyes drooping as he finally let his body relax. By the time Fox got up and grabbed his comm from his desk, Ponds was drifting off to sleep.

   Fox shook his head in disbelief at the rapidly changing state of his…friend? Hmm, no, wrong word. He typed out a quick message and settled back to try and finish the rest of the flimsiwork before midnight.

Private Message

Fox: Tell 17 he needs to contact Cody ASAP. His blond CT is in trouble.

6: Copy

 

 

   Wolffe

   The call from Cody had long since ended, but Wolffe was still staring blankly at the comm, as though it would suddenly turn on and tell him it had all been a mistake. That his littlest brother didn’t even have a scratch. That his Rex’ika wasn’t fighting for his life without any of his older brothers having been there to watch out for him.

   The comm lay silent.

   Of course it did. Little in Wolffe’s life had gone the way he wished since he left Kamino.

   He could barely hear Boost and Sinker talking outside his door. As soon as Cody mentioned calling them to sit with him, he had locked the door to his office so that no one could get in. He didn’t need his men, even men who had been with him through some of the worst moments of his life, seeing him like this.

   He needed to be strong for them. He needed – wanted – them to be able to turn to him when they needed someone to lean on. To be their rock.

   Impossibly, the door to his office slid open. Wolffe growled loudly in anger before it registered who had come in.

   “Peace, Wolffe.” General Plo gently shut the door behind him. “It is just me.”

   Wolffe shot to his feet, swaying as blood rushed from his head and blinking to clear his vision. “Sir?”

   “I have just returned from an emergency Council meeting,” General Plo said. “I have been told what happened to your brother, and knew I needed to check in with you.”

   It warmed Wolffe’s heart to think that General Plo’s first thought was his well-being. But, “I’m sure there’s other things for you to be doing, sir,” he said, with some reluctance. “I’ll be fine here.” Maybe. If he could get himself under control.

   “And if I thought that were the case, Wolffe, I would not be here now,” General Plo chastised. Wolffe winced and looked away. General Plo sighed. “Wolffe, it is not shameful to feel or show emotions; all sentients experience them.”

   “I know, General,” Wolffe snapped. He froze, swallowed harshly. “Apologies General, I-”

   “There is no need for apologies, Wolffe,” General Plo interrupted. “My concern is why you will not allow yourself to express your emotions in the presence of others, if you know it is healthy to do so.”

   It was Wolffe’s turn to sigh as he eyed the door where Boost and Sinker still waited. “They have to believe I can weather any storm that comes my way. That I can be strong enough to deal with their pains and their hardships as well as my own. They have to know I can put them first, regardless of anything else.” Wolffe’s pained eye met General Plo’s. “How can they believe in me if, at the first sign my vod’ika is in trouble, I collapse like wet flimsi?”

   General Plo stared at him for several seconds silently. Then, “You think too little of yourself, Wolffe.”

   Wolffe felt his jaw drop slightly in shock as the General continued. “Your men admire you and look up to you a great deal. Showing them a perceived weakness will only make them respect you more, not less. But,” he held up a hand to stop Wolffe from interrupting, “I understand that you want to maintain a certain image.” Unsaid was the implication that Wolffe’s pride was keeping him from seeking help. “I, however, do not meet any of those needs you just listed. Will you accept help from me? Freely given with no expectation of anything in return?”

   For the second time in as many minutes, Wolffe was shocked. Then the words really registered, and a sudden wall of emotion hit him. The amount of care from his Jedi for the situation broke him, and it was all he could do to choke out a “Yes,” before he found himself lost to the pain and collapsed in his chair.

   Some awareness told him General Plo had come around his desk and knelt by his side, a hand gripping his shoulder in comfort. Wolffe didn’t cry actual tears, the cybernetic eye made that difficult, but his sobs, while quiet, were real nonetheless.

   His General didn’t have to say anything; knowing he was there was comfort enough. Though a large part of Wolffe longed for the huddles the Shebse would have as cadets when one of them had a nightmare (Rex) or needed reassurance (Ponds or Bly). Wolffe felt the hand on his shoulder shift, but since it didn’t move, he ignored it, relishing in the comfort his Jedi gave him.

   A soft knock on the door an unknown time later threatened to force him out of the semi-relaxed state Wolffe had somehow found himself in.

   “Not to worry, Wolffe,” the soothing voice of General Plo washed over him. “I took the liberty of asking Comet to fetch some blankets and pillows here.”

   Wolffe stirred in confusion. “Why, sir?”

   “I know when younglings in the creche are upset they like to cuddle.” The jedi’s voice was deceptively even. “I believe that’s true of most sentients of a young age. And especially true of those who have a strong clan mentality.” Wolffe felt the weight of General Plo’s knowing gaze. “If I overstepped, I will, of course, send him back with my apologies.”

   Wolffe sat up slowly, and eyed his general with skepticism. “Just who have you been talking to?” He asked suspiciously. “And I thought you said Jedi couldn’t read minds.”

   “It doesn’t take a mind reader to be able to see the dynamics of a pack,” General Plo rebutted. He then gave the impression of lifting an eyebrow. “Shall I send him back?”

   Wolffe gave a tired laugh. “Well, since he’s here sir, it seems pointless to send him back now.”

   General Plo nodded approvingly. “Good. I will leave you in his, Boost, and Sinker’s capable hands. I must go to the bridge and set our new course to the planet Velmor.”

   “Velmor?” Wolffe got up with General Plo. “Is that our next objective?”

   “In a sense.” The Kel Dor jedi suddenly got an air of mischief. “We are currently in-between missions, and I decided a short leave was due. And I recently heard there are a few battalions also taking leave on Velmor; the 501^st being one of them.”

   Wolffe’s head shot up to look at General Plo in shock once more. “We’re going to see Rex?”

   “It would appear so.”

 

   Alpha-17

   Now that they were no longer training cadets, it was a very rare occurrence to walk into his room and find 6 there waiting.

   “Did you need something?” 17 asked casually.

   “Just got a message from Fox.” 6 was being uncharacteristically serious. 17 was immediately worried. “You need to call your oldest. Your youngest is in trouble.”

   17 froze. “What kind of trouble?”

   “He didn’t say,” 6 frowned. “But he wouldn’t message me like that if it weren’t serious.”

   17 opened his comm immediately and dialed Cody’s frequency. No answer. Then he noticed the little Do Not Disturb icon. “Why is he on DND?” He muttered to himself. All of his brats had their comms on DND. Wait… all of them except Rex.

   “Either he’s in trouble, or he’s going to be.” 17 hit Rex’s frequency with some irritation and waited impatiently for him to pick up.

   The exhausted vod who answerd was neither Rex nor someone 17 could immediately identify. “Who the kriff are you? And where’s Rex?” 17 growled.

   “Lieutenant Hardcase…sir?” The vod’ika didn’t know who he was, what a novelty. 6 was off to the side snickering like a Little.

   There was the sound of something dropping and a muffled swear before the comm was yanked out of Lt Hardcase’s hand. The more familiar face of Lt Jesse appeared before him.

   “Sorry about Hardcase, sir.” Jesse looked worse than Hardcase, if that was even possible.

   “I’m still waiting for an answer to my question Lieutenant,” 17 reminded him.

   “Yes sir.” Jesse swallowed nervously. “Rex is in surgery.”

   Okay, so Rex was in surgery. Why did 17 have to call Cody, or anyone for that matter? It’s not like he was dead or dying.

   17 sighed. “What did he do?”

   Jesse flinching was the first sign something was wrong. “Sir, he-” Jesse took a steadying breath. “Rex was undercover when he and General Kenobi were taken captive by Zygerrian slavers. For the last week, he’s been beaten and tortured.”

   That. His. 17 felt the blood rush from his head. He reached out for something to hold onto, and 6 was there, grabbing his arm and walking him backwards until his knees hit a chair and he collapsed into it.

   Jesse continued, “We got him out an hour ago. He was taken into surgery forty-five minutes ago once they got him stabilized.”

   17 caught the last word and his eyes narrowed. “Stabilized?” What had happened to his youngest?

   The pain in Jesse’s eyes deepened, and for a second, 17 was struck by how deeply Rex had bonded with his command staff. “He flat-lined on the transport back to the Resolute, sir. They got him back just before we landed.”

   Logically, 17 knew the odds were better than good he would lose one of his kids brats in this Force-damned war. Knew he came close when that harpy took Wolffe’s eye and when Ponds was almost killed by a bounty hunter. But while those instances had come close, they weren’t nearly as horrifying as being told his youngest bratling’s heart had actually stopped beating.

   He took a steadying breath. And then another. 6’s hand held on tight to his and he forced himself to pay attention. He could break down later.

   “Commander Cody asked me to give updates in Priority,” Jesse was saying. He rubbed a hand over his head in frustration. “I’ll admit, sir, I had forgotten you were in the chat. I’m glad you didn’t find out from there.”

   17 was not going to admit his own relief in that. “Speaking of Cody,” he said pleasantly enough. “I don’t suppose you know why his comm is DND?”

   Jesse was smart enough and familiar enough with that tone to know it wasn’t a rhetorical question. “I mentioned to him that he looked like he was about to pass out. He might have fallen asleep with Commander Bly. Finally,” he muttered under his breath.

   As much as he didn’t want to know, 17 knew he needed to know what was done to his kid bratling if he was going to get any peace that evening. “Tell me what happened to Rex, Jesse.”

   Jesse hesitated. “It might be easier for me to show you, sir.”

   17 raised an eyebrow. “Show me?”

   “One of my specialists was able to slice into the facility’s security system. We got video and sound from inside the control room right before they brought Rex and General Kenobi in.” Jesse wavered. Then, “And I always have my helmet recording.” Unsaid was he had recorded Rex’s rescue and subsequent fight for his life.

   17 glanced at 6, who nodded in reassurance. “Okay, LT. Send me that video when it’s ready.” Whether or not he’d be ready was a different story.

   “Yes, sir.” Jesse paused, then pushed on. “Sir, will you…?”

   17 snorted a soft laugh and felt 6’s shoulders shaking. “Yes, Jesse. I’ll be fine.”

*          *          *

   Later, when watching his Rex’ika be tortured with a slave collar, 17 was not fine.

   6 had repositioned himself behind 17 and wrapped his arms around him. It grounded him when all 17 wanted to do was shake apart or pummel something in anger. In a way, 17 was glad to see Bacara there, watching after and avenging Rex. He hadn’t been sure when they were in ARC training together, but now he was glad of their relationship.

   And when Jesse had to hold Bacara back from getting to Rex when he had to be shocked again… 17 wasn’t above admitting to himself how heartbreaking it was to watch. Heck, he himself had flinched forward towards the image, as if he could somehow reach through and just nudge Rex awake. 6 had tightened his arms at that point with a muffled “Kriff” in the back of 17’s neck.

   What hurt the most was knowing he couldn’t get to Rex. Couldn’t leave Kamino unless on a mission. Was stuck on this watery hellhole while his youngest fought for his life. All he could do was wait for Jesse to post in Priority that his child was going to live.

 

   Kit

   Usually, post-mission Council meetings were boring. A brief recap of what happened, whether objectives were achieved, and any tactics that could be used in future missions. This was not the usual post-mission meeting.

   Kit was late to the meeting, having just finished up a return to his ship after completing a lengthy campaign. When he connected, he found Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Aayla all bruised and tired. Obi-Wan looked like he took the majority of the damage as he was also clearly beaten bloody. Force, where had they been?

   “…when the Overseer was killed by a combined effort of Captain Rex and Commander Bacara,” Obi-Wan was saying tiredly.

   Kit perked up. Rex and Bacara on the same campaign? While he was sure that was unheard of, he was nonetheless excited to hear any bit of news on his erstwhile lovers.

   Mundi though, looked disapproving. “Was it really necessary to kill him, Master Kenobi?” Sometimes, Kit really didn’t like the older Master.

   Obi-Wan had to grab Anakin’s arm when the younger Knight looked like he was going to say something rude. But Obi-Wan didn’t look any less angry with Mundi. “Yes, Master Mundi, he did. And I’m grateful to Captain Rex,” here he choked on the name, and Kit got his first feeling that something bad happened, “for taking care of it when I couldn’t.”

   “Yes,” Mace leaned forward. “And where is Captain Rex? I was expecting him to be present for the debriefing.”

   All three of them glanced at each other, and Kit felt his heart sink. Surely he would have felt it if Rex had…

   “Captain Rex is currently in surgery,” Anakin reported quietly. “He was tortured badly and almost died twice.”

   Kit felt frozen. No, he thought wildly, not Rex. With some desperation, he tried to center himself in the Force and release his fear and heartache, but it was elusive.

   “I’m afraid Captain Rex was punished in place of myself.” Even through a holocall, Kit could feel the guilt dripping off Obi-Wan. “And there was nothing I could do to stop it.”

   Before he realized it, Kit was speaking up. “It’s not your fault, Obi-Wan,” he said as gently as he could with the grief building within him.

   “Master Fisto is right,” Master Koon said calmly. “Do not allow guilt over the actions of others to depress your spirit, Master Obi-Wan.”

   Obi-Wan sighed. “Yes, Master.”

   “Your plans,” Master Yoda spoke up. “A time for rest, yes?”

   “Yes, Master.” It was Aayla this time speaking up. “We were all due for some leave time, so we’ll be staying on Velmor, which has kindly granted us permission despite us asking last minute.”

   “Master Mundi,” Obi-Wan turned to face him. “With your permission, I’d like the 21^st to join us. They were very helpful in getting us out.”

   Mundi shifted slightly in his chair. “I’m sure they have missions to be taking care of, Master Kenobi.”

   “With respect, Master.” Oh dear. Anakin looked less than happy. “When was the last time they had a week’s leave?” There was definitely a story behind that question. Kit knew Bacara wasn’t likely to say anything, but Rex wouldn’t hold back his frustrations.

   When Mundi hesitated, Kit was not the only one looking askance at him.

   “Granted.” Mace was looking at Mundi in a way Kit was very familiar with; they were going to be having a talk. It was not going to be pleasant for Mundi at all. “Enjoy your leave. May the Force be with you.”

   Kit murmured the response and waited as the other Council members logged off. Finally, it was just him, Obi-Wan, and Anakin.

   He looked at the haggard faces and winced. “I missed the beginning. How are you?”

   “I’ve been better,” Obi-Wan said quietly.

   Anakin shuffled awkwardly, “I never want to do that again.”

   “How is he, really?” Kit asked in concern.

   Obi-Wan and Anakin exchanged looks. “Like I said, he’s in surgery,” Anakin said. “Kix, Coric, and Commander Keller of the 21^st are with him, as is Commander Bacara.”

   “I’m sorry, Kit,” Obi-Wan said mournfully. “I couldn’t protect him.”

   Kit closed his eyes and sighed. “Like I said, it’s not your fault Obi.” He breathed deep and exhaled, finally able to let some of the pain, anger, and fear go. “He’s strong. And he’s got Bacara, both of you, and all his brothers watching out for him.” And Kit would watch out for him in the Force.

   When he next saw Rex, he was going to tease him something terrible. He wanted to see just how far down the blush went, if only to know for certain he was alive.

 

Bacara

   “I’ve got sinus rhythm!”

   Bacara inhaled sharply. Tiny black spots appeared in his vision that made him aware he hadn’t breathed in a long time.

   The transport thudded as it landed in the hanger of the Resolute. A hover gurney was waiting just outside the transport as the doors slid open. Bacara quickly shoved his helmet on his head, not wanting anyone to see the vulnerability in his face he could no longer control. The stress of seeing his…lover like this wore at the chains on his control until they were nonexistent.

    Usually, and this was true even of the Marines, a post-mission hanger was full of noise; troopers joking around, releasing the stress of having been in a firefight, maintenance being done, ammo being stored. As Rex was loaded carefully onto the gurney and rushed across the hanger bay, the hanger was dead silent. It suddenly occurred to Bacara that their comms were transmitting the whole time. Everyone on the open comm channel just heard Rex’s fight for his life.

   Rex would be so embarrassed if he knew. Bacara was going to make it his mission to remind him every chance he got.

*          *          *

   The area in front of the medbay could charitably be called a waiting room, Bacara supposed, if not for the lack of chairs and space. He, along with Rex’s ARCs, were crammed into the…alcove, for lack of a better word, waiting to hear word on Rex’s condition. He had been rushed into the operating room by Kix and Keller, an unknown vod meeting them to tell them pre-op had been completed and the theatre was ready. Bacara had known surgeons considered the operating room a field of battle, but this was the first time his sanity was on the front lines.

   It was an interminable amount of time before the doors to the medbay opened, and the vod from before was hurrying towards him.

   Bacara straightened, a shot of unfiltered fear coursing through him. Surely Kix or Keller would have come out to tell him if Rex was…he swallowed, unable to even think the idea.

   “Commander Bacara? I’m SSgt Coric. Kix and Commander Keller have requested your presence inside.” The vod was the kind of no-nonsense he, Kix, and Keller appreciated. More than that, Bacara appreciated being allowed to be brought inside the theatre.

   Inside, the medbay was cool and dark, meant to inspire rest and security. That afternoon, it felt foreboding and grim.

   Sgt Coric pointed to a corner. “You can get scrubbed up over there, sir. You’ll need the gown facing your back and gloves on before the gown.”

   Bacara raised an eyebrow, but did as told. One thing he had learned since becoming a battlefield commander: when in the medic’s domain, rank did not matter.

   Once properly scrubbed and his gown donned, Coric quickly tied up the back of the gown and led him through a door marked “Surgery”.

   Bacara was not prepared for what was behind that door.

   Rex was prone on the surgical table, IV still in his arm and an oxygen cannula in his nose. He had been stripped bare, only a towel to preserve his modesty. There was a chair positioned at Rex’s head, and Coric guided him there when he was still frozen at the doorway.

   Kix, gowned, gloved, and masked, glanced at Bacara as he gingerly sat down. “Officially, you’re on donation stand-by. I’m down to my last two units of blood and I may need more. Unofficially, I want you here to keep Rex calm.” He checked a monitor, nodded, and moved to a tray of surgical implements. “He’s under anesthesia, and should stay under, but he’s also been through a lot of trauma, and I don’t want him freaking out during surgery.”

   Keller, holding what looked like the units of blood, came over to stand opposite of Kix. “I won’t lie to you sir, he’s not in good shape. We’re gonna do what we can to stabilize him so he can go into bacta.”

   Bacara cleared his throat roughly. “What, exactly, do you want me to do? He won’t even know I’m here.”

   “Research has shown,” Kix contradicted, “that unconscious patients, like those in a coma, know when someone is talking to them. Even if he can’t respond verbally, he’ll know you’re here and it will be a comfort to him.” Carefully, so very carefully, Kix continued, not looking in Bacara’s direction. “None of us speak JP, sir.”

   And Bacara knew what he meant, and took a moment to regret not having been able to keep Kix for himself. That moment was followed by a deep relief that Rex had him instead, and that they had obviously developed a deep friendship.

   As the knife cut into Rex’s abdomen, Bacara bent his head to Rex’s forehead, and just held there. Even knowing nobody could understand him, even Rex, it took him a fair few minutes to work up the courage to speak aloud.

   He had to focus to keep his eyes either shut or on Rex’s face. He knew he couldn’t watch what was happening to Rex without breaking down.

   It was studying Rex’s face that had the words tumbling out of his mouth. “You are so brave,” he whispered. It didn’t take much conscious thought to slip into his native JP dialect. “So determined. I know you’ll survive this. You don’t know how to do anything else.”

   For the next three and a half hours, Bacara whispered his thoughts to Rex. His hands at one point reached up to cup Rex’s cheeks and jaw, and his fingers began scratching through the week’s growth of beard. He whispered of the dreams he had for them, of the plans for their future. Of Kit and how he thought the Jedi could grow on him, could maybe see the possibility of a future with all three of them. Of after, and Home, and the life they could and would lead there. Sometimes he just talked about Rex, and how much he admired him and respected him. There was one thing he wanted to tell Rex, but he so wanted Rex to be awake when he did.

   Bacara was startled out of his quiet whisperings by a hand on his shoulder. Kix stood there, his eyes tired but happy.

   “We’ve got him stabilized,” Kix whispered. “Keller is prepping the bacta tank.” He eyed Bacara, then handed him a damp cloth. Bacara was confused and looked at Kix questioningly. “It’s for your face,” the medic clarified.

   His face? He lifted a hand carefully to his cheek and was surprised to discover it damp. Huh. Somehow, he’d been crying and hadn’t noticed. Bacara was grateful to Kix for not saying anything while Keller was there. He stood from the chair, stiff in an unfamiliar way; he wasn’t used to sitting still for so long. The damp cloth felt good on his face, and he washed away the evidence of his vulnerability as he followed Kix and Rex.

   Kix wheeled Rex out of the operating room and next door to what Bacara figured was a recovery room. There were several beds lined up against one wall, and a row of three bacta tanks opposite them. Keller was by the middle one, holding a breathing apparatus. They came to a stop in front of Keller, and Bacara discretely hid the cloth in Rex’s gurney.

   Bacara watched intently as Kix pulled the harness down from the top of the tank to slip Rex’s arms through while Keller attached the breathing apparatus. They carefully lifted him into the tank and sealed it. Immediately, bacta came rushing in and within a minute the tank was filled.

   “Okay, that’s him settled,” Kix said wearily. He paused, eyeing Bacara thoughtfully, and Bacara knew what was going to be asked before Kix could say anything.

   “I’m fine.” Kix looked at him incredulously. “Really, Kix.”

   “Now I know where he gets it from,” Kix muttered under his breath. “Sir,” he said at a more normal volume, “I hope you don’t think I buy that.”

   No, Bacara thought but knew better than to say. “I don’t see why not, LT,” he said instead.

   The look Kix shot him was beautifully skeptic, especially since the mask meant Bacara could only see the medic’s eyes.

   In reality, Bacara felt the exhaustion hit him so suddenly, he didn’t notice Keller come up from behind him until he jabbed a needle into his neck. “Nighty-night Commander,” he heard his CMO announce cheerfully. Well, cheerfully for him anyways. Bacara felt himself collapse into Keller’s arms, unable to do anything as the sedative kicked in immediately.

   Just as he lost consciousness, Bacara swore he was going to make sure to back up Krestor in every argument from then on.

Notes:

Hope ya'll enjoyed! Slightly less angst today, but there's surely more coming. If not angst then all the Feels.

PSA: I'm not a surgeon, nor do I have knowledge of bacta tanks. This was me guessing at how the whole process works.

Chapter 6

Summary:

The Shebse gain a little insight into the enigma that is Bacara.

Notes:

Thank you so much to Lizzie (aka eyayah-oya) for helping me get over the infuriating writer's block, and to GoBayern16 for continuing to be awesome in beta reading for me!

Not much angst this chapter! A reprieve for you because I care.

Translations at the end!

   Ponds

   Force he hated waiting.

   Hated waiting for news, hated waiting in this small starfighter, hated waiting period.

   Ponds groaned in frustration again, barely resisting the urge to pound the dashboard. Cody had messaged him half an hour ago that he and Bly had arrived at the Resolute’s medbay. And the last Priority alert had been twenty minutes ago. Ten more until the next one.

   Ding

   Or not.

   Pond frowned down at his comm. Priority had been extremely quiet once Jesse finished relaying all the pertinent information about Rex. Nobody wanted to attempt to make light of anything when one of their own was fighting for his life.

   Neyo: LT, Bacara isn’t answering me.

   Neyo: Where is he?

   Jesse: He got pulled into the operating room about three hours ago. He left his comm out here.

   Well. That was unexpected. Ponds ran through the possible reasons why the medics would have let Bacara in during surgery and came up blank.

   “Gah!” He screamed. “That doesn’t tell me anything!” He hated not knowing what was going on, too.

   His frustration was broken by the Force-blessed sound of an incoming call from Cody. His brother’s holo looked just a little less tired than the last time Ponds had seen him. In short order, Wolffe and a slightly irate 17 were patched into the call as well. Cody moved his comm away, and Ponds could see Bly and – to his surprise – Kix still in surgical scrubs standing next to him.

   “Rex is out of surgery,” Cody announced, and Ponds felt like he was going to start crying again.

   Kix spoke up. “He got through surgery well. We were able to repair the punctured lung and reset the broken ribs. There was a tear in his liver and heavy bruising to his kidneys that caused internal bleeding.” Ponds would have hated the clinical voice Kix was using if he wasn’t certain Kix was using it to maintain control. “We patched that up as well. He’s been put in a bacta tank, and he’ll stay there for the next twelve hours. It should heal the cuts left by the electrowhips and the damage done by the collar.”

   The slave collar. Ponds regretted not being able to deliver justice to the beings who did that to his baby brother.

   “We’ll be there in five hours,” Wolffe said. Lucky.

   “I just left Coruscant an hour ago,” Ponds said mournfully. “I’ve still got nine hours to go.”

   “Well I get to be stuck here,” 17 bit out. “So how about the two of you quit your whining.”

   All four Shebse flinched. Being the only one of the Shebse who hadn’t forgotten 17 didn’t go far when he wasn’t the one who had told him. Apparently, telling Fox who told 6 who then told 17 wasn’t how you let your ori’vod know his youngest was in trouble. He had been the recipient of a glorious chewing out, and Ponds knew the other Shebse had each gotten one specially personalized to them.

   Cody winced. “And really, there’s not much to do at the moment except watch him float. Bly and I are organizing leave on Velmor while we wait.”

   A thought popped in Ponds’ head. “Why was Bacara let in surgery?”

   Kix smiled slightly. “Officially? I was down to two bags of blood, and he was there in case I needed an immediate transfusion. Unofficially?” Here his smile turned pleased. “Both Rex and Bacara had been through vast amounts of trauma. Letting Bacara be there for Rex kept them both calm and let Bacara take care of Rex.”

   Healers would always take care of their patient. Even when the patient in question didn’t know they were one. “And where is Bacara now?”

   Kix gave a smirk that Ponds had seen on many a medic’s face, and had learned to fear. Poor Bacara. “He’s currently asleep,” he said smugly. “Keller gave him a sedative once we got Rex in the tank. He said Commander Bacara had been awake for forty-six hours by that point.”

   Wolffe cursed while 17 rolled his eyes and muttered, “Kriffin overachiever.”

   “Why in the karking hells was he awake for that long?” Wolffe snarled.

   Cody sighed. “The 21^st was wrapping up a mission on Toola when I commed him for aid. It was a long one.”

   A long one. That meant not only was it a long, drawn-out battle, but there were also likely heavy casualties. And then he went straight into a rescue mission with a traumatic outcome.

   For perhaps the first time, Ponds realized the depth of love Bacara held for Rex.

---

   Wolffe

   When it came to the aftermath of a large battle, there was often too much for one man to do. That’s why rest and leave after cleanup was so important. Men, no matter how well trained or genetically enhanced, needed rest after a large engagement.

   So when Wolffe was told Bacara willingly went from one battle to another, he had to take a moment or two to work it out in his head.

   He didn’t know much about how the Marines operated, no one really did. And he hadn’t had much cause to find out until Cody leaked Rex and Bacara’s relationship. Then it was a matter of principle to find out as much as he could. Not as much as Ponds, Wolffe liked to think he wasn’t nearly as obsessive over Rex as that. But the best way to know a man, a Commander, was to see how he operated.

   Wolffe’s research left him stunned. Objectively, he knew the Marines were in a near-constant state of forward deployment. He knew they spent the majority of their time behind the blockade. He knew, objectively, how often they were in battle, and for how long those battles lasted.

   It was somehow different to witness it somewhat firsthand.

   When Cody had said the Marines were finishing up an engagement on Toola, Wolffe immediately pulled up the star charts to find out where the kriff Toola even was. It turned out to be some little backwater planet the Senate had apparently decided needed Republic intervention, but was bogged down with Separatists. Commander Krestor had recently filed the After-Action Reports for both Toola and Kadavo on behalf of the 21^st, and Wolffe was surprised to see Lt. Jesse had filed the 501^st After-Action Report as well. (He really was going to force someone to promote the idiot. He was too good at his job to keep wasting away as a 2^nd Lieutenant.)

   Toola wasn’t far at all from Zygerria, or Kadavo for that matter. It wasn’t the distance the Marines travelled that was remarkable; it was the speed in which they arrived. According to the report, the 21^st was only halfway through their egress when Cody commed them for help. It should have taken them at least two more hours before everything was cleared away on the Steadfast.

   It was done in one.

   Nothing left behind, everything accounted for. It took a lot to impress Wolffe, and the efficiency of Bacara’s Marines did just that. But it was more than that. Wolffe never begrudged Cody’s inability to come after him when the Malevolence destroyed his battalion, but being left to die still haunted him.

   Bacara basically dropped everything to come to Rex’s aid. Wolffe knew part of that was because his general didn’t campaign with them (and he never thought he’d be grateful for that fact). But even if Mundi had been there, Wolffe thought maybe Bacara would have gone anyway, even if it was just him by himself.

---

   Bly

   He was supposed to be getting some rest. Cody had all but ordered him to try and get some sleep while Rex was in bacta. And so Aayla was curled up next to him, pressed against his side and clinging to him almost desperately in her sleep. He absently wondered how much trouble he would be in if he took the 327^th and destroyed the Zygerrian Empire.

   Bly had finished the report from Jesse and was halfway through Krestor’s. Both reports were detailed and professional, as he would expect, but they were missing something. He frowned as he skimmed the rest of Krestor’s report, and didn’t find anything new that wasn’t in Jesse’s report.

   He needed more detail.

   Bly: Can you send me the unedited HUD feed?

   Jesse: Yes…?

   Jesse: Was there something wrong with my report?

   Bly: Reports are never the same as being there.

   Jesse: It’s sent.

   A few seconds later, the incoming video arrived with a soft ding. Warily, he glanced at Aayla as she stirred slightly, then relaxed. It was then he realized a problem. He couldn’t watch the video without waking her, and his helmet was on the side table. Carefully, he shifted and reached across the bed for his bucket.

   As he pulled back, bucket in hand, Aayla roused, “Bly?” She slurred.

   “It’s nothing, freykaa,” Bly whispered. He sent feelings of safe, secure, love at her until she settled back into sleep. Once he was sure she was out, Bly slipped his bucket on his head and pulled up the feed from Jesse’s HUD.

   The problem in sleeping with a Jedi, Bly thought wearily, is trying to keep a lid on your emotions.

   The video tested his control in a way he had not had to experience before.

   For all that he had protested Rex’s inclusion into Squad Shebse from the get-go, Rex had grown on him, as he did with everyone he met. He somehow went from the bratty nuisance he’d like to get rid of, to being one of the five most important people in Bly’s life. Seeing the evidence of the torture Rex went through, seeing the torture itself, watching his baby brother fight for his life and almost die…Bly didn’t think he could put into words his emotions at that moment.

   And while Rex’s pain hurt him as much as Aayla’s did, what caught Bly’s attention was Bacara’s response to it.

   Bacara not only planned the rescue operation, he also executed it with a ruthless efficiency Bly could only admire. The clean shots to the three Zygerrian guards on the roof? Bly almost applauded.

   Through it all, until the very end, Bacara never lost his composure. He kept his cool, even when knowing it was his cyare’s life on the line and seeing the damage wrought. Some would call it callous or cold. Bly, however, knew it was a rare ability to push past the emotional compromise to get the job done. He didn’t know if he could do it. If Aayla had been in that situation? The consequences of his actions didn’t bear thinking about.

   It spoke well of his ability to compartmentalize when needed. Bly hadn’t been certain when Cody told him he wanted Bacara to have a higher role in their developing council hierarchy. Even before he found out about Rex’s relationship with him, he just didn’t know enough about the man’s character to understand the decision.

   But now, having seen how Bacara reacted in what was probably the worst emotional crisis he’d had to deal with, Bly not only understood, he approved of Cody’s decision. His mind now went to how he could better support his brother(-in-law, it was only a matter of time) in the future.

   The 327^th were one of the few battalions, and the only one amongst the Shebse, who went behind the blockade occasionally. He’d talk to Aayla about maybe arranging things to do a few joint missions, or barring that, doing a few supply/relief drops so the Novas could keep their spirits up.

---

   Bacara

   Being warm was an unusual feeling. So too, was the relatively soft comfort of an actual bed. As well as the quiet voices of tate around him, and the bizarre feeling of someone holding his hand.

    Bacara struggled to force his eyes open. He immediately regretted it as the light above him was blinding. He groaned in pain and turned his head to the side to try and avoid it. There was a muffled curse, and the hand holding his squeezed his fingers a few seconds later.

   “Bacara?” It wasn’t a tat, that much he could tell, but it was a familiar voice.

   He cracked his eyes open again, and was relieved to see the light had been turned off. When he looked to the side, Bacara was more than a little surprised to see Ahsoka sitting next to him, holding his hand.

   “Commander?” Force but his voice was groggy. What was she doing here? “Rex?”

   “Commander!” Oh look, his foggy brain supplied, my treacherous, perfidious, hypo-wielding maniac medic.

   Keller ignored the disgruntled glare his commander was sending him to check his eyes with another blinding light. Bacara tried to flinch away, but Keller held his head still. “Commander, the faster you let me check you, the faster you’re out of here.”

   “If you hadn’t drugged me,” Bacara grumbled, “I wouldn’t need checking.” Ahsoka giggled softly.

   “You’ve been out for over ten hours, Commander.” Keller looked him dead in the eye as he continued. “Clearly your body needed the rest, I just helped it along.”

   Ten hours? Bacara sat straight up, ignoring how his vision suddenly showed black spots dancing around. He would have swung out of the bed if Keller hadn’t put a hand on his shoulder. Bacara had never really snapped at the man, but if Keller didn’t let him go, he was going to.

   “Let me go, Keller,” Bacara ordered. “I need to see Rex.”

   “Rex is fine; he’s still in bacta. You, however, need sugar, Commander.” Keller held out a meiloorun. “I’m not allowing you to pass out again. If you eat this, I’ll let you go check on Captain Rex.”

   Bacara took the fruit with a dirty look at his CMO. “We agreed you wouldn’t bring that up.”

   Keller shot him a flat look. “We agreed nothing. Continue to make bad health decisions, and I will continue to bring it up.”

   Ahsoka giggled again, and Bacara shot her the most polite look he could. “What are you laughing at, Commander?”

   “The two of you,” she sniggered. “It reminds me of a conversation I overheard between Kix and Rex. I’d eat the fruit, Commander Bacara, you won’t win.”

   There was absolutely no grumbling as Bacara bit into the fruit, none whatsoever. He turned to face the little commander, ignoring his CMO for the moment. “So,” he started in between bites. “Why are you here, Commander Tano? Why aren’t you with Rex?”

   “You can call me Ahsoka, Commander.” She was still holding his hand as she jumped up on the hospital bed next to him. “You seemed like you would need someone with you when you woke up. And Cody, Bly, and Wolffe are sitting with Rex right now.”

   That was… Bacara took another bit of the meiloorun to hide the sudden burst of emotion that threatened to overtake him. He swallowed. “You can call me Bacara…Ahsoka.” She saw a complete stranger and decided he needed…a friend? Company? There was no doubt she was Rex’s kid.

   Despite not wanting to waste time, the fruit was making him feel more alert, and the black spots were finally gone. Ahsoka jumped off the bed as Bacara worked his legs free of the blanket and swung his legs over the side. He glared at Keller, daring him to try and stop him, but Keller moved out of the way without a word.

   “He’s recuperating nicely,” Keller said as they left the small recovery room adjacent to the bacta tanks. “If he continues to heal at this rate, we’ll be able to take him out of the bacta tank in an hour.”

   Rex was where Bacara had last seen him, but Bacara was relieved to see there was a vast improvement on his appearance. From what he could see, anyways. As Ahsoka had said, Cody, Wolffe, and Bly were standing in front of his bacta tank, and Kix was in front of them, scanning the tank as Bacara walked up.

   Cody glanced over his shoulder as they walked up, then turned fully around and walked quickly towards them.

   Before Bacara could say or do anything, Cody was reaching for him and none too gently knocking his forehead into Bacara’s in the roughest keldabe he had ever been a part of. “Vor entye, vod,” he whispered. “Tat, aitaah par teaginnsair kashe. Aitaah.”

   Bacara, who had already gripped the back of Cody’s neck in a startled reflex, tightened his grip even more in shock. “Keh'pajal, Kote,” he whispered back. “I’m glad I was able to be there.” He couldn’t imagine if he’d had to wait for updates in Priority. No doubt he would have been useless in their next engagement.

   They stood there trying to get their emotions back under control before they pulled back. Ahsoka and Keller had stepped away to talk to Kix, and were pretending they weren’t keeping an eye on the two Marshal Commanders.

   When Cody and Bacara did pull back, Wolffe and Bly were right there waiting for them. Wolffe, without saying a word, knocked his forehead into Bacara’s rougher than even Cody had. Bacara rather thought he was going to end up with a concussion soon. As he pulled away, Bly stepped in and gave a much gentler keldabe than his two batchers, to Bacara’s relief.

   “You’re lucky Ponds isn’t here yet,” Cody said with a small smile. “It took General Windu a little longer to find a legitimate reason to send him out this way.”

   Wolffe snorted. “He wouldn’t let you go. Rex’ika’s lucky to be unconscious.”

   “He won’t in the bacta tank when Ponds gets here thought,” Bly mused. “It’ll be harder keeping him out of Rex’s bed.”

   “He’ll stay out of Rex’s bed if he knows what’s good for him,” Kix butted in, having shamelessly listened in. He also seemed very nonchalant at threatening a commander. Bacara suddenly had the thought that he was glad Kix and Keller were in separate battalions.

   Another thought occurred to Bacara, and it filled him with dread. “Keller, did we get our new orders yet?”

   Keller frowned, “No sir, we haven’t. Odd.”

   Bacara hesitated. If he asked Mundi about orders, he’d have to 1) explain why he hadn’t reached out sooner and 2) probably leave before Rex was awake. Knowing Rex was safe and would survive cut the hurt of having to leave him, but he had wanted to see and talk to him first.

   Cody interrupted his thought, looking exceedingly more smug than the situation warranted. “You don’t need to worry about orders just yet,” he said. “The 21^st is on leave until the Zhellday after next.”

   Bacara and Keller stared incredulously at him. “What day is today?” Keller asked.

   “Benduday,” Cody answered, still incredibly smug. “You’ve got nine days of leave left.”

   Nine days of leave. Bacara couldn’t remember the last time he personally had that much leave at one time. He knew for certain the majority of his Novas hadn’t even had three days in a row off, let alone nine. “How?” He breathed.

   “During his debrief with the Council, General Kenobi asked Mundi to let the 21^st take leave with us.” Ah, the reason for his smugness. “When he prevaricated, General Skywalker confronted him on when the 21^st last took leave.”

   Bacara snorted bitterly. Mundi hadn’t even thought about leave in the entirety Bacara had known him. He was certain Mundi’s idea of leave was the time in-between missions.

   “Exactly.” Cody looked and sounded furious, but continued. “When he couldn’t answer, General Windu granted the leave.”

   Bacara took a steadying breath. “I’ll have to thank them, next time I see them,” he said casually. Too casually, but thankfully no one called him on it. “Does Krestor know?”

   “I thought you’d like to be the one to give the news,” Cody said with a soft smile.

   Not for the first time, Bacara was grateful the rumors he had heard about this man were wrong, and was so satisfied he swore to him. He had so little good news to tell his men, and it meant a lot that he could tell them this.

   He hesitated, staring at Rex for a long moment before he glanced at Kix and Keller. “An hour, you said?”

   “I won’t take him out until you get back, Commander,” Keller assured.

   Bacara felt his shoulders drop slightly in relief. He took one last look at Rex, ardent longing shooting through him, before he clenched a fist and turned, forcing himself away so he could check on his men.

   He had good news for them for once.

---

   Cody

   Cody was pretty sure Bacara wasn’t aware how much emotion he was showing just before he left. Kriff, it really was nauseatingly adorable how much Bacara loved Cody’s baby brother.

   “Precious,” Wolffe declared with a slight sneer.

   “Cute,” Bly added.

   “Adorable,” Cody agreed. “But we’re not going to say anything, right?” He eyed his brothers carefully; he didn’t want Bacara closing up again.

   Wolffe rolled his eyes while Bly snorted. “It’s not us you have to worry about.” His side-eye towards the two medics and padawan was telling.

   Equally telling were the twin looks of mischief on Kix and Ahsoka’s face. Keller had a look on his face like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to roll his eyes or slap someone upside the head.

   Cody turned toward the three of them with a serious look on his face. “You will say nothing to Bacara, understood?”

   Kix and Ahsoka sobered immediately. “Yes, Alor,” Kix said.

   “Yes, Alor,” Ahsoka agreed.

   Cody looked at Keller who shrugged. “I value my sanity more than that…Alor.” The last word was said with a kind of wonder, and Cody realized it was quite possibly the first time anyone from the 21^st had said it out loud.

   “Thank you,” Cody said with a smile.

   “Besides,” Ahsoka piped up, mischievous look back on her face. “You didn’t say anything about not bringing it up to Rex.” Wolffe barked a laugh and Bly snickered as she high-fived Kix.

   Cody had to chuckle. “As long as you do it after Bacara leaves, or when he’s not around to hear,” he agreed.

   His baby brother had surrounded himself with such good people. He knew Bacara to be an honorable man from when he pledged, but having seen the lengths he went to in order to save Rex had been yet another eye opener. More than ever, Cody was glad to have the man on his future council. His steady hand and cool head would be beneficial when it came to the hotheads. Cody looked forward to the decisions that would come from Bacara’s resolve and empathy.

   And even with all of that, Bacara loved Rex so deeply he couldn’t hide it. Maybe he hadn’t told Rex yet, Cody wasn’t sure. But it was there for anyone who was looking to see. Rex made Bacara feel at peace, and Bacara made Rex happy.

   And that was enough for Cody.

Notes:

Translations:
Freykaa - Ryl for beloved
Tat, aitaah par teaginnsair kashe. Aitaah. - Brother, thank you for rescuing him. Thank you. (JP)
Keh'pajal, Kote. - Don't mention it, Cody. (JP)

Chapter 7

Summary:

In which Bacara...enjoys...some quality time with the Shebse.

Notes:

Sorry for the delay! I lost my grandmother this past week and my writing energy kinda went along with it.

But anyways! A new chapter for all you lovies!

My thanks to GoBayern16 once again for being an awesome beta!

   The stunned silence at his announcement hurt more than Bacara was willing to admit. The few Torrent troopers hanging around excitedly began planning with their Nova companions about how they would spend their leave. The icy tendrils of hurt were slowly replaced with warmth as he saw how Rex’s troopers took care of their lost brothers.

   From across the landing bay, Krestor signed, Leave handled, declarative. Stay with cyare, declarative.

   Mats tomorrow, 1500, declarative, Bacara signed back without remorse. It would be good to expel some energy once Rex woke up.

   One final glance around the bay showed his Novas in increasingly good spirits. With a lighter heart, Bacara left to return to the medbay.

*          *          *

   As promised, soon after Bacara arrived back in the medbay, Kix and Keller were prepping the bacta tank for release. Less than five minutes after returning, Rex was laying on a hospital bed, having been given a quick wipe-down to get rid of the lingering bacta.

   Bacara, fully intending to pull up a chair so he could sit by Rex’s side until he woke up, was stopped by a look from Cody. He raised an eyebrow in question.

   “We were thinking of playing sabacc until Rex wakes up.” Cody was nonchalantly waving a sabacc deck at him.

   Bacara hesitated, glancing back at Rex then over at Cody. “I guess it beats staring at each other in silence,” he slowly agreed.

   When Bly dragged a table over, Bacara was careful to place his chair where he could best see Rex’s face. The placement did not go unnoticed by the Shebse, but fortunately for them, they said nothing about it; Cody even looked approving.

   There wasn’t much down time behind the blockade, so Bacara only had a passing familiarity with the game. But, and he knew this would be important, he had an excellent sabacc face. And Rex had been the one to teach him, so he knew how the Shebse cheated, and was fully prepared to cheat along with them.

   When Bacara solidly won the first round, all three of the present Shebse turned and looked at him as one. He magnanimously ignored them as he raked in his winnings of various snack foods. Once settled, he put his cards in the center and (somewhat) innocently asked, “Another round?”

   The Shebse looked at each other and eyed him carefully. Bacara had no trouble keeping his face blank as he raised an eyebrow. “What?”

   Wolffe picked up the cards and shuffled thoughtfully. Cody and Bly sat up a little straighter, and Bacara figured they were going to take future games more seriously. Good, Bacara thought, amused, give me a challenge this time.

   By the time Bacara won the fourth hand, the Shebse were running out of things with which to bet.

   So it was to their relief when Ponds finally burst through the recovery room’s doors with a mild shout of “Rex’ika!”

   Bacara shot a quick glance to Rex, but he didn’t move.

   Cody breathed a sigh of relief and then shot a mild glare at Ponds. “Keep it down Ponds,” he chastised. “He’s sleeping.”

   Ponds winced quickly before his face dropped, and he walked hesitantly towards where Rex was laying. “Rex’ika,” he whispered, gently grasping his hand.

   Cody got up from the table to go wrap his arms around Ponds. It appeared being able to see Rex was helping Ponds calm down from the hysteria Bacara had heard tell of earlier. He couldn’t disagree; having Rex out of the tank was doing wonders for his peace of mind too.

   After a few minutes (which Bacara spent shuffling the deck in increasingly complex ways, to the muted astonishment of Wolffe and Bly), Cody whispered in Ponds’ ear, and he pulled away from Rex reluctantly.

   “Come join us, vod,” Cody said warmly. “We need your help. Bacara’s fleeced us for all our snacks.”

   Ponds laughed wetly, though no tears fell, and looked over at the table. “I know you know how to cheat at sabacc, Cody. How the kriff are all of you losing?”

   Wolffe snorted. “Bacara’s better at cheating, I just haven’t seen how.”

   Bacara just looked blandly at all of them. “Might want to polish those observational skills,” he hesitated slightly before adding, “tat.”

   Ponds’ lips twitched in an aborted smile before he pulled up a chair across from Bacara. “Let’s test mine,” he smiled. A predator’s smile if ever there was one.

   Bacara’s eyes crinkled at the corners in his own approximation of a smile. “Place your bets,” he rumbled.

   Another three rounds later, Ponds threw down his losing hand in frustration. “Alright. How are you doing it?”

   Bacara attempted an innocent look, but his lips were beginning to twitch in amusement. “Doing what?”

   Ponds gestured at the table, where Bacara’s winnings were easily three times the size of everyone else’s. Bly had run out of snacks in the first round and had been watching the subsequent rounds in increasing amusement.

   “You’re cheating,” Ponds accused. “Somehow! Who taught you?”

   Bacara simply glanced over at Rex and let that speak for him.

   “No.” Cody was shaking his head in disbelief. “Rex taught you?”

   “He’s awful at sabacc,” Ponds whined.

   “No sabacc face at all,” Wolffe added with a roll of his eyes.

   “Loses even with cheating,” Cody moaned.

   “Gets fleeced by his command staff regularly,” Bly sighed in exasperation.

   Bacara shrugged. “He taught me and Neyo in ARC training.” One of the few times Neyo could be convinced to set aside rivalries was to learn something new. “And besides,” he allowed himself a small, smug smile. “Who said I was cheating?” He was, of course, but if they couldn’t figure out how he was doing it? Their loss.

   A movement from Rex caught Bacara’s attention immediately. It wasn’t much, a quick twitch of his fingers, but it smoothly shifted his focus to where it belonged. The entire time he’d been out of the tank, Rex had a blank, resting face. Now, there was a slight frown, and his eyebrows were furrowed.

   Cody noticed his distraction and looked over as well. “Rex’ika?” He quickly got out of his chair and moved to stand at Rex’s side.

   Almost immediately, all the Shebse were crowding around Rex’s bed as he made more indications of waking up soon. Bacara stood awkwardly to the side, still able to see Rex, but not as close as he would like. Those are Rex’s brothers, he told himself firmly. They are allowed to see him first. You’ll get your chance. The self-reassurance didn’t do much to help.

   Rex’s head turned from side to side, and he mumbled something Bacara couldn’t make out. Cody bent his head closer, “Rex’ika?”

   Rex’s eyes fluttered open, “Cara?” He winced and shut his eyes tight.

   All four Shebse froze in surprise. Cody especially looked to be visibly shocked. It occurred then, to Bacara, that this might have been the first time in Cody’s life where Rex didn’t immediately ask for him.

   Slowly, painfully slowly, Cody stepped back from Rex’s side and moved to stand next to Wolffe.

   Bacara and Cody made eye contact. Though his eyes were pained, there was enough warmth in Cody’s eyes for Bacara to nod once and bring a chair around to sit at Rex’s side.

   “Cara?” Rex’s voice was rough, but there was a tone of worry and fear that made Bacara hurry to sit and take his hand.

   “Tat’ka,” he murmured quietly. “I have you. You’re safe.”

   Rex shook his head quickly, eyes still tightly closed. “Not safe,” he shivered. “Guards. Collar. Shouldn’t be here.”

   “Listen to me, tat’ka,” Bacara soothed. “You’re on the Resolute. We found and rescued you almost two days ago. The guards are all dead. You’re safe.” With the hand holding Rex’s, Bacara gently touched Rex’s throat. “See, there’s no more collar. General Kenobi took it off, remember?” Cautiously, he reached out with his free hand and cupped Rex’s face. “Look at me, Rex.”

   Gingerly, Rex’s eyes opened and locked on Bacara’s. It took a moment for them to focus, and when they did Rex’s eyes widened in surprise. “Bacara,” he whispered hoarsely. “You’re really here.”

   Slightly amused and more than a little emotional, Bacara tried for a smirk. “You saw me earlier.”

   Rex’s smile wasn’t any better than Bacara’s smirk. “Thought I was hallucinating. Didn’t expect to see you there.”

   Bacara took a shaky breath and bent his head to press a keldabe into Rex’s. “Don’t,” he begged gruffly. “I thought I lost you, tat’ka. Don’t do that to me again.”

   “I don’t plan on it,” Rex agreed. And that was as good as Bacara would get, they both knew.

   Bacara leaned back, acutely aware of the four sets of eyes staring holes in his back. “Your disaster brothers are here, tat’ka.” He willfully ignored the irritated hiss from Ponds. “Better greet them before they burst.”

   Rex blinked in surprise, before looking around. His eyes landed first on Cody and Wolffe, then swung around to see Bly and Ponds. “Why does Ponds look like he wants to kill something?”

   “Because he’s lost too many times at sabacc today,” Wolffe answered dryly. “And it’s all your boyfriend’s fault.”

   “Besides,” Bly cut in before Ponds could try and refute that argument. “If you think he’s mad, you should have seen 17 on the comm earlier.”

   As the three began bickering, with Rex occasionally stirring the pot, Bacara was quick to notice his smile never reached his eyes. A quick glance at Cody saw the same worry in Bacara’s heart reflected in his eyes.

   Rex was by no means as well as he pretended to be. His eyes were haunted in a way Bacara had never seen on a tat before. Even while he was sassing Ponds or Wolffe, Rex’s eyes were flitting from corner to corner, and somehow keeping one eye on the door. A sudden movement by Ponds made Rex flinch, though he tried to conceal it by scratching a shoulder.

   It was going to be a process, Bacara realized dimly, to get Rex to even admit something was wrong. All the tate were stubborn, but Rex was even more stubborn than most. Bacara would have to consult with Kix and Keller, find out what Rex was capable of doing while healing. And he’d have to talk to Cody and the rest of the Shebse, probably. Bacara groaned internally. He was pretty sure Ponds still hated him for defiling his precious Rex’ika.

   But he would fight those battles for Rex, so that Rex could fight his own. Bacara knew what happened to tate who let the battle for themselves rage on without help or without talking with someone. Rex might very well hate him for this, Bacara knew. But he would rather Rex hate him, than lose him to those slavers.

Notes:

Hope ya'll enjoyed!
I'm thinking one more chapter after this one, but as this was supposed to be three chapters, who knows?

Chapter 8

Summary:

Rex thinks he's fine, but he's anything but...

Notes:

Thank you all so much for your patience! We're back with a boat-load of angst ahead, so prepare your tissues!

My continued thanks to GoBayern16 for beta reading this chapter! And special thanks to the fabulous Projie, who is letting me borrow a line from "For a Man Should Stand Tall".

   “Kix is gonna kill you when he finds you.”

   Rex hunched his shoulders defensively up to his ears before he forcibly relaxed them back down. Bacara sighed quietly and went to sit down next to his partner, barely brushing his shoulders against Rex’s.

   They sat together in silence that grew more awkward as time passed. It was broken with a frustrated half-snarl from Rex. “I don’t need a babysitter.”

   “Who said I was babysitting?” Bacara shot back, completely unbothered by the small show of temper. “You left medbay while Kix, the Shebse, and I had our backs turned. They’re turning this ship apart trying to find you and return you to your bed.”

   Rex turned his head away, but not quickly enough for Bacara to miss the scowl forming. “I’m fine,” he muttered darkly.

   Bacara didn’t turn his head much, but the blistering side-eye he gave Rex made the younger clone flinch. “You’re not fine, tat’ka,” he grumbled sharply.

   “Yes, I am,” Rex snapped. He froze, took a deep breath, and tried again. “I’m fine.” His tone was forcibly calm. “I just need to get back into a rhythm again.”

   Bacara closed his eyes in resignation; he had hoped it wouldn’t come to this. He turned to face Rex, who still had his head facing away. Rex’s eyes were screwed shut and his right hand was squeezed tightly into a fist. Bacara reached out, ignoring the slight flinch when his hand touched Rex’s cheek, and turned Rex’s head to face him. “Look at me,” he ordered softly.

   Rex’s eyes fluttered open, and Bacara had to force himself not to get caught in the golden irises. They held eye contact for less than ten seconds before Rex’s eyes dropped to stare somewhere off Bacara’s left shoulder.

   Bacara sighed. “Okay, Rex.” He stood up and reached a hand out to Rex. With only a slight hesitation, Rex took the offered hand and pulled himself up. Bacara didn’t let go of Rex’s hand as he led them out of the hidden nook in the starboard observation deck. He gave a subtle nod of thanks to Jesse who, hidden away in the shadows, had kept an eye on his captain and let Bacara know where he was.

   That Rex didn’t notice Jesse, or Bacara’s acknowledgement of the Scout, spoke volumes about his tat’ka’s state of mind.

   They were at the gym before Rex seemed to realize where they were headed. By the time Bacara finished de-kitting down to his blacks, Rex was blinking at him slowly in confusion.

   “What…?” The lost and confused look on Rex’s face threatened to break Bacara’s heart, and he hated what he was going to have to do.

   Bacara felt his face slip into The Marine. “You were a prisoner of war for a week. GAR regulations require you to debrief with your commander. You can talk to me, or you can talk to Cody, but you are going to talk to someone. And it is going to be today.” At Rex’s frozen, horrified look, Bacara softened slightly. “I thought, at least with me, you could fight out what happened.”

   Bacara saw when the door to the upper deck was opened, but gave nothing away to Rex, who was still thinking.

   “Who do you want, Rex?” He asked gently. “Me or Cody?”

   Rex hesitated. “You’ll think differently of me.”

   “No, I won’t.” The denial was immediate and heartfelt. “Rex, there is nothing you could have done that will make me think differently of you.” There was once a time where Rex knew that, but recent events had shaken his confidence immensely.

   Rex seemed to relax slightly. “Okay then. Come on.” He stretched as he walked to the middle of the sparring mats.

   Bacara rubbed his hands quickly over his face in frustration before following his lover to the mats. He hadn’t wanted to do this with an audience, but at least this way everyone important would know and he wouldn’t have to repeat it.

   Rex faced him. His stance was solid, but there was something uneasy in his eyes that gave Bacara pause. “Light drills,” he decided, and it was reminiscent of their ARC training days. “Progress as needed.” He smirked slightly. “You’ll be the aggressor.”

   Bacara was only slightly comforted by the smirk he got in return. “You might regret that,” Rex taunted, but the shadows in his eyes deepened.

   Bacara sank into a defensive position, and gestured a ‘bring it’. “Talk.” And after a moment’s hesitation, Rex began.

   Light drills were good for conversation – they were more of a warm-up than anything – and they allowed Rex to get through the relatively easy part of explaining the origins of the Zygerria mission. As they sparred, Rex told Bacara of the missing settlers on Kiros, of finding the Zygerrians there and the settlement that was almost blown up, and the decision to try and rescue the colonists.

   “The orders were originally for Skywalker, Kenobi, Ahsoka, and Cody,” Rex huffed in anger as he swung at Bacara. “But there was no way in all nine Corellian hells I was gonna let her go undercover as a slave, and Cody is too valuable to us to risk him like that.” He dodged Bacara’s counterstrike and continued. “It was easy enough to get the GAR to accept a fully trained Jedi in place of an apprentice. It took a little more fast talking to get them to accept Cody was too important to the Third Systems Army to risk going undercover for who knew how long.”

   From there, Rex’s control started slipping, and they moved (probably without Rex’s conscious knowledge) into heavier drills, almost free-hand fighting.

   He began to describe splitting up when the Zygerrian queen requested Skywalker and Secura’s presence. Of finding the Kiros governor, and having to leave Kenobi behind when they got caught. The slave auction, where Skywalker almost had to whip his former master, and the subsequent fight that ended with Rex unconscious after having taken four electrowhips.

   They broke apart for a short breath while Rex tried to get his emotions under control. The horror in his eyes made Bacara want to call this off. But he knew if Rex didn’t get this out, it would fester like a rotting wound and destroy him.

   “I woke up in a cage on a transport with a collar around my neck,” Rex whispered roughly. He just stood there, not moving, as he continued. “Kenobi was in the cage next to me, unconscious still, with a collar around his neck too. He woke up just before he landed.” A lone tear tracked its way down his cheek. “The overseer had ten colonists lined up as we arrived.” Rex took a shuddering breath. “He killed them Bacara. Sent them plummeting to their deaths just to prove a point.”

   He shouldn’t ask, but, “What was the point, Rex?”

   The golden eyes Bacara loved so much were dull and empty as they met his own. “That we were powerless to help them.”

   Bacara took a step forward, fully intent to stop fighting and wrap Rex in his arms and never let him go, when the emptiness in Rex’s eyes vanished. In an instant, Rex’s eyes were filled with rage, disgust, and shame, and he flew forward, almost catching Bacara off-guard.

   “There was nothing, nothing we could do!” Rex shouted as he fought. His eyes were unfocused, as if he were looking at something other than Bacara in front of him. “None of my training, none of Kenobi’s training, could stop him from killing the colonists if we screwed up. I had to sit there as the colonists were punished for every mistake Kenobi or I made. I was almost grateful when they turned to me to punish for Kenobi’s mistakes, because at least I wasn’t an innocent bystander!”

   The fight was moving faster than Bacara had ever seen Rex fight before. He would have been impressed, if it wasn’t due to Rex’s pain.

   “When it got to the point where Kenobi was obeying them perfectly, they had to find other ways to punish him,” Rex was breathing harshly, fury and shame holding equal part in his expression. “So they created insults, forced reactions, and every time he bent so they wouldn’t hurt me further, they did anyway. And that wasn’t enough for them!” Tears were forming in his eyes, and Rex grit his teeth in anger.

   When Rex kept silent and his punches got harder, Bacara reluctantly spoke up. “Rex?” It was all worse than he had imagined, and some terrible gut feeling told him it was going to get worse.

   The tears finally began falling from Rex’s eyes. “I was nothing but a plaything for them,” he said hoarsely. “They took me, separated me from Kenobi, from the others. Pulled me aside and-” he choked and couldn’t continue.

   Bacara tensed. Trepidation filled his body, and he wanted nothing more than to go to Zygerria and raze the entire planet. Surely they hadn’t…

   Slowly, carefully, Bacara grabbed Rex’s forearms and pulled him close. He hated himself for putting Rex through this, loathed that this was necessary.

   When his nose brushed against Rex’s ear, Rex froze and pushed back harshly. “No!” He shouted.

   Startled, Bacara released him and took two large steps back. It wasn’t enough.

   Rex was faster than lightning, stepping in close to Bacara and swinging almost before Bacara could react. Instinct and instinct alone kept his jaw from being broken, and instinct had him retaliating before he could stop himself. But this Rex was a different Rex from ARC training, and this Rex wasn’t pulling his punches. He was too busy fighting an enemy only he could see.

   “You don’t get to touch me like that!” Rex screamed at his invisible enemy. “I’m not your toy! I’m not your pet! I’m not going to stand here anymore and let you grab me and pet me and,” he choked, “fondle me like that! I’m done! I don’t care what you do, I’m going to kill you!”

   A furious Rex got up inside Bacara’s guard. And in a flash of déjà vu, Bacara was reacting on instinct and muscle memory again, his off-hand reaching out before he could pull it back. But it didn’t matter. Rex was already spinning out of the way, reaching back for Bacara’s right hand, and throwing him down to the mats ten feet away.

   Bacara was stunned, but already moving to get out of Rex’s way. He swiftly got to his feet and met the full onslaught of Rex’s fury. It was a battle to try and not hurt him more than he already was. But Rex went for Bacara’s right knee, and ended up flying across the mats himself.

   As Rex got back up, blind rage on his face, Bacara tried to get through to him. “Rex!” He dodged a powerful roundhouse and slapped the following fist away. “Rex! It’s me!” Bacara’s vision was blurry, and it took him too long to realize tears were pouring out of his eyes. He grunted as he took a hard kick to his ribs. It didn’t feel like there was any way to reach him.

   “HOLD!” Kix’s ragged voice snapped out through the loudspeaker.

   Miraculously, Rex stopped. Years of responding to that command in general, and from his medic in particular, had cut through his fury like a knife.  He took a step back and shook his head roughly. Bacara was relieved to see clarity and focus in Rex’s eyes for the first time since he woke up three days ago.

   The relief didn’t last for long. As Rex took in Bacara and their surroundings, he appeared to be hit by everything that had happened in the last, Force, had it only been twenty minutes? His face crumbled, and his body followed suit, crashing to the floor on his knees.

   Rex screamed, and it was a sound that would haunt Bacara for years to come. All of Rex’s pain, anger, humiliation, and grief came pouring out. Rex kneeled alone as the scream ended in heartbreaking sobs.

   Bacara fell to his knees next to Rex. “Rex?” Carefully, carefully Bacara, he thought desperately. “Do you know me?” It hadn’t been him Rex was fighting.

   Rex lifted his head to meet Bacara’s eyes. He lifted his hand to cup the side of Bacara’s face. “I know you,” he whispered. “Cyare.” His thumb wiped away another tear.

   “Can I touch you?” Force, please let him say yes.

   Rex smiled, barely, hesitantly, and said, “Please.”

   The hug Bacara wrapped Rex in was desperate. He wanted nothing more than to bury his face in Rex’s neck, but the memory of what had happened when he came close was at the forefront of his mind. So he rested his chin on top of Rex’s head and ignored the pain in his ribs when Rex wrapped his arms tightly around his waist.

   It was only with some surprise that Bacara looked up from Rex and met Cody’s red-rimmed eyes on the other side of the mats. Behind him were the rest of the Shebse, all in much the same state. His eyes swept across the room and quickly landed on Jesse, Kix, Hardcase, Fives, and Echo.

   “Rex?” His face was pressed into Bacara’s chest, and the answering “Hmmm?” was muffled. “The Shebse are here. So is your core team.”

   Rex froze slightly. He pulled away enough to whisper. “They’re here?”

   Bacara nodded, knowing Rex would feel it.

   “They saw?”

   Bacara looked down and met Rex’s eyes. “They don’t think any less of you,” he stated firmly. “But they need to be near you, so they can see for themselves that you’re okay.” He gently cupped Rex’s face with one of his hands and stroked along his cheekbone. “Can they come over here?”

   Rex wavered. Then he closed his eyes in resignation and nodded.

   Bacara kissed the top of Rex’s head. “I’m proud of you, Rex. I know this is asking a lot right now. Trust me, tat’ka, they won’t think any differently of you.” He lifted a hand in Cody’s direction, motioning them forward. He met Jesse’s eyes, and beckoned him over with a tilt of his head.

    Cody knelt in front of Rex. “Rex’ika,” he croaked. “I’m so sorry.” He reached out and gripped one of Rex’s hands tight.

   “It’s not your fault,” Rex murmured. He still wasn’t making eye contact with anyone.

   “And it’s not yours either, Rex’ika.” Bly sat down on Cody’s left.

   Wolffe sank to the ground on Bly’s other side. “You did what you had to do to survive.”

   A solemn Ponds dropped to Cody’s right. “We couldn’t be any more proud of you, Rex’ika.”

   Rex stared at them in disbelief. “How?”

   “‘The mission comes first. However you accomplish that, I will support and defend the means you used to succeed.’” Hardcase said as he came to stand behind Wolffe.

   “‘Everyone else may doubt you,’” Echo added, “‘but know that I couldn’t be more honored to call you my brothers, and I will fight for you every time.’”

   “‘You are an ARC trooper.’” Jesse’s voice was choked with emotion. “‘You worked and bled and suffered for it. You are elite, you’ve been elite and now the army officially recognizes it. It’s about time you do.’”

   Rex was shaking in Bacara’s arms, and Bacara realized those words had come from Rex’s own mouth.

   Fives knelt down behind Cody. “‘I don’t care what the standards are. You are not and have never been standard. You have risen so far above standard that exceptional is your new baseline.’”

   Kix was last, with a soft smile. “‘Every man has his breaking point. Don’t think that because you’ve reached yours that you are any less in my eyes. I’m proud of you for having made it this far, and I will be with you through it from now on.’”

   Bacara thought his heart would burst out of love for Rex and his men. He doubted Rex had really realized the impact he had on his men until now. That their love and respect for him wasn’t just for when he was strong.

   Rex shuddered on a sob. “I need help.”

   Cody squeezed Rex’s hand. “And we’re here, Rex’ika. We’ll be with you for as long as you need us.”

   “The rest of Domino are guarding the gym doors to keep anyone from entering,” Jesse told them. “And Commanders Keller and Krestor are on backup in case someone wants to try and argue.”

   Bacara warmed at the knowledge. He turned to Rex. “You want to take a shower, tat’ka?”

   Rex hesitated. “I don’t think I could stay awake for one.” The admission felt like shame to Bacara, and he rushed to reassure him.

   “That’s fine, Rex. We can just pile here.”

   “You need the rest anyways,” Kix added. “Will you answer honestly if I ask how you’re doing? Or should I just do a quick physical?”

   Rex looked up and met Kix’s eyes. “I’m not injured Kix.”

   Kix held Rex’s eyes for a long moment, then nodded. “I think you’re actually telling the truth. Okay, you can go to sleep. Domino is keeping the watch.”

   Bacara was very much glad Kix didn’t think to ask him how he was doing. He was pretty sure Rex had cracked a rib or two with that kick, and his kidneys felt like they had taken a beating. He didn’t want Rex to feel guilty or ashamed for the damage, so he kept quiet.

   He waited for Rex to lay down, then carefully (and with a straight face, thank the Force) lay down beside him. Cody curled up on Rex’s other side, and everyone else piled around them. It felt like Jesse was leaning against his other side, which meant Kix was likely with him.

   Rex wasn’t completely healed, not by a long shot. It would take time for him to recover to the way he was before Zygerria. But having gotten the whole story out, and having the comfort and support of his brothers and men, Bacara was confident Rex would be back to himself in short order.

   The only point of concern Bacara still had was the assault Rex mentioned. He wasn’t sure how he would go about broaching that subject with Rex. It was clear that certain touches, especially surprise touch, triggered a bad memory. And it hurt Bacara, because those same touches used to invoke good memories. He had six days of leave before he could expect new orders. He had six days to try and help Rex recover.

Chapter 9

Notes:

It's back!!!
It's been way too long since this fic was updated, and I am so sorry. So thank you all for the encouraging comments that got me back on track!
My thanks to GoBayern16 for being such an awesome beta reader, and Projie for letting me borrow Alpha-6.

***A warning***
There will be talks of torture and unhealthy coping mechanisms, as well as negative headspaces and wanting to give up on everything.

   The hallways of the Resolute were empty as 17 made his way to the ship’s gym. A very young, very worried General Skywalker had told him his brats were bunked down there. He hefted his go-bag higher on his shoulder. There was no doubt a perfectly good reason why they had decided to sleep there, instead of a proper bunk room.

   17 raised an eyebrow in mild surprise as he turned a corner and saw the entrance to the gym being guarded by two vode in 501^st blue. ARC trooper armor, definitely ones he’d trained. 17 eyed the paint and searched his brain for their names. “ARC Troopers Hevy,” he tilted his head towards the other one. “Cutup.”

   They snapped to attention. “Alpha-17!” They apparently were just as surprised to see him.

   17 waited impatiently as they just stood there. “You boys gonna let me in?” There was only one acceptable answer—

   Hevy and Cutup looked at each other. “Commander Cody told us not to let anyone in, sir.”

   —That was not it. “We can do this one of two ways, gentle-vode. Either you let me through on your own, or I let myself through and you get to take a nice nap. Which one do you pick?” Personally, 17 felt he was being quite generous in giving them a choice. Fortunately for them, he actually got some semblance of rest on the flight from Kamino.

   “We’ll just…let you in, sir.” Cutup slowly stepped to the side, and Hevy copied him.

   17 nodded. “Smart decision.” He strode past them and hit the door panel, barely pausing as the gym door slid open.

   There was a fairly large, indistinct, vode-shaped pile in the middle of one of the sparring mats positioned throughout the gym. 17 dropped his bag near the door, took off his chest and back plate, before making his way towards it. As he drew closer, the vague pile gained shape, and he could pick out individual vode. The smaller form of Rex was curled up against Bacara, with Cody on his other side. There was a tangle of four vode at Bacara’s back, some of Rex’s if he wasn’t mistaken. Wolffe was curled up against Cody, Bly at Cody’s head, and Ponds at Cody and Rex’s feet. A bald vod was cuddled up to Wolffe in a way that 17 wondered if his wild child had something he’d like to tell him.

   17 was still several feet away, not quite on the edge of the sparring mat, when Bacara’s eyes shot open and fixed on him. 17 paused, uncertain of the mental state of the Marine. There was some confusion in Bacara’s eyes, but gratefulness as well, and 17 relaxed. Carefully, Bacara reached over Rex’s sleeping form, and nudged Cody awake.

   The relief in Cody’s eyes when he looked over his shoulder to see 17 was reminiscent of the few times in training when a cadet Cody had gotten in over his head, and looked to 17 to help him out of it.

   And it made 17 incredibly worried for the well-being of his youngest.

   Carefully, Cody maneuvered his way out of the vod-pile. Ponds, somehow still very much asleep, took Cody’s place and squirmed his way close to Rex. If it weren’t for Bacara’s arms wrapped around Rex’s chest and legs twisted in-between his, 17 was sure Ponds would have successfully eeled his way into his favorite cuddling position.

   “17,” Cody whispered as soon as he was close. “What are you doing here?”

   “Officially, I’ve got orders to head up the 501^st while Rex is recovering.” Before Cody could get offended on his vod’ika’s behalf, 17 continued. “Unofficially, General Kenobi needed an excuse to get me here.”

   Cody sighed, his shoulders dropping as he looked back at the sleeping Rex. “I’m glad you’re here, 17. He—” Cody visibly bit back tears. 17 felt the worry and tension inside building as he was again reminded of a young cadet. This time worried about the little biter they’d forcibly adopted.

   17 opened his arms, “Come here, Kot’ika.”

   Cody went willingly into 17’s arms, his forehead pressed firmly against 17’s shoulder. Cody’s hands fisted in 17’s uppers as he tried to contain his sobs. 17 scratched softly at the back of Cody’s head, something that never failed to calm him down. A quick glance up told him everyone was still asleep, although he’d lay good odds on Bacara only pretending to sleep.

   “He’s not getting enough sleep,” Cody rasped. “He starts off fine, gets maybe a few hours of sleep, and then the nightmares turn up. He clocked Bacara in the jaw the first night after he got out of bacta.” He shuddered hard. “He either doesn’t remember them, or won’t talk about them. And after last night, it’s probably the latter.”

   “It’s not your fault.” 17 was quick to say it, otherwise his eldest would wear himself to the bone trying to fix something he couldn’t fix. “It’s nobody’s fault but the ones who did this to him. And they’re dead.”

   “It’s hard,” Cody whispered against his shoulder. “It’s hard being the strong one.”

   17 sighed. “Especially when it’s someone close to you, right?”

   Cody pulled his head back from 17’s shoulder. “How do you do it?”

   “It helps when you have someone to go to,” 17 tilted his head forward to meet Cody’s eyes. “Who do you go to when you’re struggling?”

   Cody looked down. “Usually I go to Obi-Wan, but he’s struggling with what happened himself. He’s been meeting with General Plo for the past two days since he got out of medbay.” He looked back at Rex again. “I don’t know how to help him or Rex.”

   17 hesitated, and his hesitation made Cody snap back around again. “What?” Cody asked warily.

   17 took a step back, leaving his hands on Cody’s shoulders. “Unfortunately Cody, there’s not a lot you’re going to be able to do for Rex, or Obi-Wan, other than just being there when they need you.” He met Cody’s wounded eyes. “You haven’t gone through what they’ve gone through. Torture is a different kind of pain, a different kind of trauma. Unless you’ve been there, you can’t walk that road with them.”

   “And you have?” Cody challenged, angry at the truth he knew 17 was telling him.

   When 17 wouldn’t meet Cody’s eyes, all the anger fell away in horror. “You have?” He asked hoarsely.

   17 closed his eyes. “Just trust me that I will be able to help Rex through this, Cody. Please.”

   Cody nodded and stepped back into 17’s arms, both seeking and offering comfort.

   They stood that way for a minute before a sharp cry was heard from the vod-pile behind them.

   Rex was fidgeting in Bacara’s arms, the Marine wide awake and slowly working to move away. Everyone else was waking up quickly, a vod with intricate designs styled into his hair moving around Bacara, nearly pushing Bly out of the way to get a hand on Rex’s neck. Medic then. Kix, if 17’s memory wasn’t failing him.

   Cody started rushing back to Rex, but 17 grabbed his arm and shook his head. “Wait. Don’t crowd him.”

   17 walked calmly towards the group huddled around Rex. “I need everyone but Bacara and Kix to back away. Now.” The faces of everyone but Bacara whipped around in shock, but he ignored them.

   Slowly, everyone backed away until it was just Bacara, Kix, and 17 with Rex. Rex was fighting demons only he could see, flinching away from Kix and Bacara’s hands as they tried to keep him from hurting himself or others.

   About a foot from Rex’s feet, 17 crouched down. He met Kix’s worried eyes first.

   “I’m worried about his heart,” Kix hissed. “It’s been under too much strain lately. And he’s still not fully healed from his wounds.”

   Bacara tensed at the words, his grip on Rex’s hands tightening ever so slightly.

   “I know,” 17 murmured back. “But I’m going to ask both of you to take a step back.” Bacara’s head shot to face him. His expression could kindly be described as a glare. 17 understood. “It won’t be for long.” He met Bacara’s frozen eyes. “Trust me.”

   17 could see the battle playing out in Bacara’s eyes as he struggled with his love for Rex and the knowledge that 17 could help him. Finally, Bacara’s eyes closed in resignation, and he gently released Rex’s hands and shuffled back. Kix stood and moved to kneel behind Bacara.

   17 fought to keep the calm that had carried him this far. It hurt to see Rex in pain like this. Carefully, he reached out, grabbed one of Rex’s feet and shook it. He was unsurprised when Rex shot upright, right fist coming forward in a perfect cross-body swing. 17 grabbed the fist and held it. He gently unfurled the fist and set it on his shoulder. Then he leaned forward, projecting every movement to Rex, who stared at him through unseeing eyes. He took Rex’s other hand, bringing it back towards him and pulling Rex forward at the same time. The hand on 17’s shoulder twitched, and 17 paused in his movements, all attention focused on Rex’s face.

   Rex blinked, and 17 could have smiled as his eyes finally cleared from the nightmare’s haze. “Hey there, Rex’ika,” he murmured. “You’re safe. I’ve got you.” Rex’s eyes focused on him, and widened in surprise.

   “17?” He whispered hoarsely. “How?” He stopped, looking around with wide-eyed bewilderment. 17 could tell when Rex realized where he was, because his shoulders slumped, and Rex gazed at the floor in barely concealed frustration. “Oh. What time is it?”

   “Not quite first shift,” 17 replied. “About the time you’d normally be waking up.”

   Rex snorted, but didn’t say anything. It was so unlike him, and 17 was getting a feeling of déjà vu. He looked up to catch Bacara’s eye, and flicked his to Rex. Luckily, Bacara got the message, and shuffled forward to gently lay a hand on Rex’s arm. Rex flinched, but relaxed when he saw who was touching him. A good sign, one 17 was happy to see and he moved Rex’s hand from his shoulder to Bacara’s.

   17 ignored the twinge in his leg as he got to his feet, leaving the two cuddled up on the mats for the moment. He made a twirling gesture with his index finger and moved to the side of the gym, well out of earshot of Rex and Bacara.

   “When’d you get here, 17?” Wolffe asked quietly.

   “About thirty minutes ago. Listen,” 17 continued before anyone else could ask him questions. He looked at the assembled vode gathered around him; his Shebse, Rex’s command staff, and his ARC twins. “There isn’t anything any of you are going to be able to do for Rex right now. I’m sure most of you,” he raised an eyebrow at Jesse, who raised one back, “have paperwork that needs to be caught up on. The rest of you should take advantage of the down time you’ve been given.”

   “I can’t leave him,” Kix said firmly. “He’s still in need of care.”

   “The care he needs,” 17 said carefully, “is not the kind medicine can provide.” He met each vod’s eyes. “You’ve all done all you can in getting him this far. The next step he has to take on his own.”

   “What if he dissociates again?” Jesse murmured grimly. A bleak look flashed across his face. “He’s gone violent before.”

   “He took Commander Bacara down on the mats last night,” Fives continued, in awe despite the circumstances.

   17 raised an eyebrow. “Did he?” He glanced over at Rex in pride. “Hmmm.” 17 turned to his brats. “You four have been quiet.”

   Ponds was forlorn, and kept sneaking peeks back at Rex. “Even when he was a scared little third cycle, he never flinched away from us.” He turned sad, focused eyes on 17. “Whatever you have to do, I’m here with you.”

   “Same.” “What he said.” Bly and Wolffe chimed in together.

   17 eyed his eldest when nothing came from him. “Well?” He drawled.

   Cody met his stare head on, as usual. “We are with you, 17. Whatever you need.”

   17 nodded. “Good. Now, go find something to do elsewhere.”

   The huddle broke slowly, each vod making their way to Rex to say something before one-by-one, they left the gym. When it was just 17, Rex, and Bacara left in the gym, 17 walked over and sat down on the mats.

   “Where can we go on this ship that will guarantee us privacy, Rex?” 17 asked.

   Rex furrowed his brow in confusion, but answered readily. “Officer’s mess. I can lock it out.”

   17 nodded thoughtfully. “Okay Rex, I’m going to go put my bag down in my quarters. You have thirty minutes to get yourself cleaned up and to the Officer’s mess. Anything longer than that and I will hunt you down.” He glanced briefly at a worried Bacara. “During that time, you and Bacara will decide whether he joins you or not.”

   “What are we going to be doing,” Rex asked warily.

   The look 17 leveled on Rex was serious. “We are going to talk.”

---

   Somehow, 17 wasn’t surprised when Rex walked in the Officer’s mess twenty-eight minutes later, absent Bacara. Disappointed, but not surprised.

   But Rex could somehow sense the silent disapproval and said, “Bacara needed to check on his battalion. He’s hardly spent any time with them since I woke up.”

   And Rex was feeling guilty because of it.

   “Okay,” 17 said simply, and settled against the surprisingly comfortable chair he had picked. It clearly wasn’t stock; this was one of the areas Rex and his men had made their own.

   Rex hesitated, unsure of himself in a way 17 had rarely—if ever—seen, then sat stiffly in a similar chair across from the Alpha.

   “How are your ribs?” It was a casual question. It did not receive a casual response.

   “Fine,” Rex answered quickly. Too quickly.

   17 gave him the look that answer deserved. “You wanna try that again, Rex’ika? Maybe with a little honesty this time?”

   Rex attempted a glare, but it was the most pitiful thing 17 had ever seen him attempt. “I’m fine, 17,” he said. Stubborn as all nine Corellian hells. Just like Cody. Fine then.

   “Did you know,” 17 began in a far too casual tone. Rex leaned forward in cautious interest. “That about three months after Geonosis, General Kenobi and I went undercover on a planet called Rattatak?”

   Wide-eyed, Rex shook his head no.

   The dry mountain air was stale on his tongue. He could hear the electric hum of shock staves before he pulled himself out of the memory. “We were there to gauge the locals, see what their position would be if approached by the Republic.” 17 grimaced. “Little did we know, the Separatists had already gotten there.”

   Rex stared at 17, terror creeping into his face. He could guess what happened; why 17 was bringing up the story at all.

   “Pretending to be weapons traders, we were introduced to their ruler.” 17 could feel his heart beat climbing as he continued. “A Dathomirian woman called Asajj Ventress.”

   Rex sucked in a breath. “No,” he whispered, face paling.

   17 shifted in his chair, growing less comfortable as he told his tale. “We didn’t know she had already been corrupted by Dooku. And she knew we were coming. Kenobi was in a Force-suppressing collar before either of us could move. I was knocked unconscious by two or three knockout darts before the collar clicked in place.” Tired, weary eyes met Rex’s horrified ones. “I woke up bound and gagged in a room designed to break men.”

   Rex’s eyes filled with tears and spilled over silently. 17 dragged his chair closer, so that their knees were touching. “Hey,” he said, grabbing Rex’s hands in his. “I’m right here. I’m okay, Rex’ika.” Rex leaned forward to press his head against 17’s and stayed there.

   They stayed in that position until Rex’s breathing calmed down. 17 resolved to stay there until Rex pulled away. To his surprise, Rex spoke up. “Did you think you were ever going to get out?”

   17 shuddered but didn’t pull away. “Not before they killed us.”

   Rex flinched hard. “I knew for sure I was going to die,” he whispered hoarsely. “And it wasn’t going to be quick. They liked hurting us.”

   17 sucked in a breath hearing that. Of all the eventualities he knew his kids would go through in this Force-forsaken war, this was the one he had most hoped his kids would be spared.

   “I—it feels like I’m still there,” Rex continued haltingly. The words sounded like he was forcing them out. “So many things keep dragging me back there. It’s like I’ve never left.”

   It was a familiar feeling. There were times even three years later that 17 woke up in a sweat, heart pounding, completely unsure of his surroundings.

   “I can tell you it gets better with time,” 17 began slowly. “I can tell you that even when it does get better, there will still be bad days.” Finally 17 pulled away from the keldabe to look Rex in the eyes. “I can promise you, trusting in your vode will get you through even the bad days. Don’t shut us out. Let us help you.”

   “I can’t,” Rex stressed. His hands reached up to pull at his hair, but 17 held them back.

   “Why not?” 17 challenged. “What harm is there in letting your brothers help you? In letting Bacara help you?”

   Rex opened his mouth, then shut it. “After last night, I can’t…” He trailed off, not meeting 17’s eyes.

   Okay, now they were getting somewhere. “What happened last night?” 17 asked gently.

   He held Rex’s wrists, grounding him as he told 17 how Bacara had forced him to debrief. How during that debriefing, he’d said too much; things he hadn’t intended to tell anyone, let alone his lover. And how everyone, his command staff, his ARCs, and his brothers had heard everything.

   “I’m…ashamed,” Rex breathed, like it was a confession. His hands shook as he tried and failed to suppress his battered emotions. “I couldn’t keep it together. I’ve seen so much death and destruction happen to my brothers and held the line. But as soon as it happened to me—” Rex choked, and the tears fell. “As soon as it happened to me, I fell apart.”

   17 inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly. Looked like he’d be telling this story after all. “When we got out,” he said. Steadily. Carefully. “I was a broken mess. Spent a week in bacta on Kamino before I was healed enough to live.” 17 laughed cynically. “It was only Kenobi fighting for me that I was even given that. The Kaminoans thought I was too damaged to save.”

   Now it was his turn to avoid Rex’s eyes. 17 focused his attention on Rex’s collarbone and continued. “Once I got out of bacta, as soon as I was able, I went to my room and stayed there. Hell, if I’m being honest? I hid there. Had rations stored away so I didn’t have to leave. Locked out anyone and everyone who wanted to see me. Stayed there for about a week before 6 and Spar had enough and sliced open my door.”

   And hadn’t that been humiliating? He hadn’t cared about anything by that point. His bed was a mess, and so was the rest of the room from where he’d taken his rage, his pain, and his nightmares out on everything that wasn’t bolted down. He hadn’t even showered, so in that respect Rex was one up on him.

   “They forced me to shower, forced me to change clothes.” It was embarrassing as all kriff to have to tell his youngest kid this, but Rex couldn’t make the same mistakes he did. “And then dragged me down to the Alpha gym, thankfully empty. Spar all but threw me on the mats and told me I was gonna talk or I was gonna fight, but what I wasn’t going to do was go back to slowly killing myself.”

   Rex’s sudden inhale made 17 finally look up. With a self-deprecating smile, he said, “Yeah kid. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the path I had set myself on wasn’t healthy. It wouldn’t heal me, wouldn’t make me better, couldn’t do anything that would make things go back to normal. Or even a new normal. If I had continued, if Spar and 6 hadn’t intervened, I don’t think I would have made it to teach you ARC training.”

   ARC training had been less than six months after the intervention. One month after Rex graduated from training. He could see Rex doing the math and what little color he had regained fled when he came to the correct conclusion.

   “What did you choose?” Rex asked after a short pause.

   17 smiled softly. “Looks like I did raise you after all, kid. I talked while fighting.” Because Cody and Wolffe would fight and then talk. Bly would talk first, fight later. And Ponds would need to cling to someone while talking.

   Silence. Then a small snort, followed by a hitching giggle. The whole of 17’s being warmed at the sound. If he could giggle, if he could laugh, 17 was sure he’d be okay.

   17 slipped his hand from Rex’s wrists. He cupped the back of Rex’s neck and pulled him gently into keldabe. “You’re going to be okay, Rex.” He repeated the words Spar had whispered to him when he broke down sobbing on the mats three years ago. “Maybe not now, but you will be okay. And any time you think you aren’t? You call me, and I will be there for you.”

   Rex trembled. “Thank you buir,” he said wetly. Then his arms went around 17 and he collapsed in 17’s arms. Great heaving sobs wracked his body, the pent-up emotions of the last two ten-days exploding outward at last.

   “Oh, ad’ika,” 17 whispered. He held Rex close, and wished he could take the pain away.

   When the sobs finally ran their course, Rex pulled away slightly, wiping his eyes with a hasty swipe of his hands. He looked slightly embarrassed, but calmer.

   “Here’s what I want to do,” 17 said quietly. “I want you to go to your medic, and have him look you over. He’s worried about how you’re healing.  If you get an all-clear from him, let me know and I’ll meet you back in the gym. Bring Bacara with you if you want.” Rex made like he wanted to protest, but 17 cut him off. “He’s worried about you too. If you’d really prefer he not be there, fine. But I think it would do you both good if he were.” Rex sighed, but nodded reluctantly.

   17 stood with a little difficulty. His knee wouldn’t ever be the same after that time, but it was better than needing it amputated. He pointedly ignored the concerned look Rex sent his way and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Rex grumbled, but still couldn’t hide the pleased look, or the way his ears turned pink.

   Rex keyed the door to the Officer’s Mess open, and 17 and Rex paused in the doorway as they saw Bacara leaning against the wall opposite them, data pad in hand. He lowered the data pad and looked them over carefully, no doubt noting Rex’s red-rimmed eyes and the tired expressions on both their faces.

   “Tat’ka?” Rex froze slightly at the word, but relaxed almost immediately. He briefly leaned harder into 17’s hold before pulling away to step into Bacara’s arms. The pang of emptiness 17 felt was quickly replaced by warmth at the sight.

   “Will you come with me to medbay?” Rex mumbled into Bacara’s chest.

   Bacara looked down Rex’s body in alarm. “You’re hurt?”

   Rex huffed a small laugh. “No.” He turned to roll his eyes in 17’s direction. 17 raised an eyebrow in response. “17 wants me to get checked out before we spar.”

   Now it was Bacara’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Spar?” His eyes met 17’s in question.

   17 shrugged. “It may not be the best way to deal with things, but it works for us. And it’ll help him.” He eyed Rex sharply. “Once he gets cleared. And don’t think I won’t check with Kix if you come back saying you’re fine.”

   Bacara snorted quietly. “I’ll make sure he’s actually cleared before we leave.” He couldn’t hide the fondness in his gaze as Rex pouted.

   “I know you will,” 17 said, his own gaze warm as he looked on. “I trust you.”

   Surprise flashed across Bacara’s face before it was replaced by quiet pleasure. Rex, on the other hand, tried to look smug, but his exhaustion was beginning to come through. 17 couldn’t wait to get him on the mats.

   “Go,” he told them. “The sooner you get cleared, the sooner we can spar.” Rex immediately began tugging Bacara down the hall, looking far too excited to be beaten into paste.

   17 snorted in amusement. Definitely his ad.