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Kamino, training salle 4, ages 5 and 5 ½
“Get up , cadet.”
Rex flinched, still on the ground from his last spar. Gritting his teeth and fighting back his tears, Rex staggered to his feet. He swayed slightly, clenching his fists together. His head was still spinning from when Fox slammed him to the floor only moments before. From across the mat, his older brother’s anxious golden eyes met his, an unspoken apology on his face. Bly, Ponds, Kote, and Wolffe were watching from the outskirts of the room, barely contained fury on their faces.
“Again, cadets.”
Rex shuddered at the man’s harsh tone, wrapping his arms around himself and trying hopelessly to get the room to stop spinning. Fox gritted his teeth in fury.
“No.” He stepped closer to the trainer, putting himself between the bounty hunter and Rex, even though the top of his head only came up to the man’s waist. “I won’t. You can’t make me.”
The trainer towered over Fox, glaring dangerously. “What did you just say to me, CC-1010?”
Fox glared right back, clenching his fists angrily. “You heard me, asshole.”
“You’ll spar with CT-7567 or you’ll spar with me, clone .”
Rex couldn’t breathe, staring in mute horror at his ori’vod. Suddenly, Kote was there, putting an arm over his shoulders and pulling him away from the mat.
Then Rex was covering his mouth in horror, tears streaming down his face, as the bounty hunter slammed Fox into the wall with a sickening crack. The man’s other fist hit the clone in the ribs. He stepped back, and Fox fell to the ground and didn’t get up.
“Clean up this mess.” the bounty hunter hissed in disgust, turning on his heel and leaving the cadets alone in the training salle.
Kamino, Barracks room 16E, ages 9 ½ and 10
“Kote! How the hell did you get that?” Bly laughed, as Kote showed his batchmates the clear bottle of liquor. The six of them were sitting on the floor in a close circle, enjoying each other’s company for what they all knew could be the last time. They had received their troop assignments that morning and were being shipped across the galaxy the next day.
“Well, I’m sure being Alpha’s favorite helped with that.” Fox snarked back, elbowing Bly in the ribs.
“I, for one, don’t care how he got it.” Wolffe put in, “As long as he plans to share it.”
Kote just laughed smugly. “Vod, you're lucky I like you. What should we drink to?”
“I say we drink to Aayla Secura’s abs!” Rex attempted to joke, even though his eyes were still red and puffy.
Bly growled at him, reaching across the circle to smack their youngest brother’s shoulder as the rest of his batchmates laughed in delight. “Rex’ika! Don’t talk about my general like that!”
“Come now, Bly.” The normally serious Ponds chortled, taking a swig from the bottle. “You said nearly the same thing less than an hour ago, dumbass.”
One bottle of liquor, several hours, and toasts to Kenobi's beard, Alpha being an asshole, Mace Windu’s bald head, and ‘baby Rex’ika’ later, Rex found himself sprawled out on top of three of his adopted batchmates. His head was spinning deliriously, and he watched, dazed, as Bly and Wolffe wrestled clumsily on the floor next to them. Kote was running his fingers through Rex’s short hair, humming absent-mindedly to himself. Pinned down next to them by Rex’s legs, Fox and Ponds argued about the advantages of the newly commissioned DCs, slurring their words. Rex drifted off to sleep, lulled into unconsciousness by the warmth and companionship surrounding him.
Rex was shaken awake the next morning by Fox, who was already wearing his freshly painted armor. Rex groaned, blearily looking around as his pounding headache reminded him of the night before. Kote, Wolffe, and Bly were being shaken awake next to him by Ponds, also already in his armor.
“What--what time?” Rex mumbled to Fox, sitting up and flinching at a surge of nausea.
“C’mon, vod’ika, drink this.” Fox knelt next to him with a glass of water. “I looked at your deployment forms. Your transport leaves in an hour, and you should visit the mess and eat something before you go.”
Rex nodded numbly, drinking the water and avoiding Fox’s gaze. His older brother sighed, sitting down and wrapping an arm around him. Rex fell into his embrace, not caring that Fox’s armor dug into his side.
“I’ll miss you, ori’vod.” He mumbled, burying his face in Fox’s neck.
“Come now Rex’ika, this isn’t goodbye, not really.” Fox gripped him tighter, brushing his hand through Rex’s hair. “When you’re on leave on Coruscant, you can visit me, vod. We’ll only be a comm call apart, yeah?”
Rex closed his eyes, feeling Kote and the others joining the hug. Just for a moment, he could allow himself to remain a cadet and sink into the overprotectiveness that usually annoyed him to no end.
Coruscant, 79s, ages 11 and 11 ½
“Fox! Fox, get your ass over here!”
Rex and Kote had clearly had more than one drink before Fox had arrived. Rex was waving both arms excitedly, a loopy grin on his face. Kote looked tired, but the marshal commander couldn’t hide his grin as Fox fought through the crowd to slide into the chair next to his two batchmates.
“Language, Rex’ika.”
Rex just flipped him off, before wrapping his arms tightly around him and burying his head in Fox’s shoulder like he used to do with all of his adopted batchmates back on Kamino. Fighting a surge of nostalgia, Fox returned the hug. He had barely caught his breath when Kote pulled him into a hug as well.
“Awww, Foxy is showing affection.”
“Shut up, Kot’ika” Fox elbowed him lightly in the ribs, giving his brother a fake glare. “I need a drink or six.”
Rex laughed in delight, swaying on his feet a little as he waved the server droid over to order a round of shots.
Several drinks and stories exchanged later, Fox’s head was floating deliriously. He felt himself grinning for no other reason than that Rex and Kote were by his side.
Kote and Fox were laughing about another one of Kenobi’s escapades when Rex stumbled back to their booth, dragging two troopers with him. One of the kids looked like he was trying desperately to hide his laughter, while the other just seemed uncomfortable.
“Fox! Fox, Fox, Fox’ika, ori’vod!” Rex grinned maniacally, each of his arms around one of the troopers' shoulders.
“What the fuck do you want, vod’ika?” Fox was too tipsy to keep the fondness out of his tone. Rex didn’t drink often, but when he did, it was a sight to see. The normally stoic Captain seemed to revert to the adorable blond brat that had followed them all around back on Kamino.
Rex ushered the younger clones closer. “Remember the shinies Codes and I met on Rishi? Fives and Echo, meet my batchmate, Commander Fox.”
“Oh my gods Cody, your cadet-stealing habits are corrupting poor, innocent Rex’ika.” Fox snarked, completely straight-faced.
“Fuck off, Foxy, I’m clearly the better influence.” Kote slurred back, baring his teeth.
“Sir, nice to meet you, sir!” One of Rex’s adopted troopers pronounced, blushing a bit and settling into parade rest.
Fox waved off the gesture loosely. “I’m drunk in a bar, trooper, please don’t call me sir.” He reached over to shake the shiny’s hand, raising an eyebrow. “Echo, I presume?”
The kid’s blush deepened. “Yes sir--I mean, Fox.”
The other kid, Fives, was a bit bolder than his batchmate, and clearly a bit drunker too. “Nice to meet you, Foxy!”
Rex collapsed onto Cody, his entire body shaking with laughter. “Vod, your face ! Fives, I fucking love you.”
Fox bared all of his teeth in a macabre grin, “The next person to call me Foxy will spend the rest of the night in a cell. Rex’ika, that includes you.” Fox turned back to Fives. “Nice to meet you, vod’ika. ”
Fives paled a little but managed to return the handshake confidently.
“Sorry Commander.”
Fox just waved the apology away. “Nice to meet you both. Don’t let ol’ Rexy scare you, he’s a big softie.”
Both troopers looked delighted at this knowledge, and Rex just scoffed indignantly.
Coruscant, lower levels, ages 12 and 12 ½
Commander Fox came back to himself in a dark warehouse, with his blasters set to kill and a vod in front of him with a smoking hole in his chest. Shit .
Fox shakily stowed his blasters, unable to look away from the trooper laying on the ground. Captain Rex was shaking the brother, (Fives, his name was Fives) begging him to hold on, calling desperately for a medic. Fox had always had the highest scores in his batch for marksmanship. He already knew it was too late.
Fox stepped behind one of the crates, pulling off his helmet to throw up.
“CC 1010, your orders are to terminate ARC 5555. Lethal force only.” Palpatine had smiled at Fox, oily and malicious.
“Yes sir.” Fox went rigid, trying desperately to prevent his consciousness from slipping away. But it was too late. It was always too late.
Fox slammed his helmet back on his head. He was the commander of the Coruscant Guard. He didn’t have time to fall apart. Fox stepped out from behind the empty crates to his youngest batchmate’s furious, heartbroken stare.
“How could you!” Rex’s fists shook, and his eyes were glassy. “I can’t believe I used to call you my ori'vod.”
Rex stepped closer and shoved Fox backwards a few steps. “You murdered my brother! Next time do us all a favor and off yourself instead, you fucking asshole."
Inside his helmet, Fox flinched, but he didn’t respond. How could he? Rex was right; Fox was a murderer. The rest of Fox’s men looked shaken, and he couldn’t help being glad it was him who had to live with taking the shot, not one of his shinies.
Coruscant Guard offices, ages 12 and 12 ½
Fox walked through the quiet Guard barracks on auto-pilot. He just had to get to his office. There, he could shed the commander persona and--and what? He had just shot his younger brother’s closest vod in the heart, Fox reminded himself viciously. He had to--he had to do something , the chancellor had gone too far.
The Chancellor--you couldn’t be a member of the guard for long without realizing that something was off about that man. Fives (Fives, the vod Fox murdered, who he had watched choke painfully on his last breath) had mentioned the Chancellor too.
Finally reaching his office, Fox frantically dug through his saved copies of the Chancellor’s flimsy work.
He had Intel reports directly from the chancellor's office, and field reports filed by commanding officers on the front lines revealing said intel was at best missing pieces, and at worst completely misleading.
Republic funds were being siphoned off to an anonymous source.
There was a report of murdered senators, a possible connection between the murders. Then a transcript of the Chancellor’s public statement, claiming that the Senators’ deaths were a tragic accident.
CMO Nettle’s report on the missing time members of the guard were experiencing was followed directly by a decommissioning order from the office of the chancellor for 16 CG troopers, including Nettle.
Fox tore off the pieces of his armor, fingers shaking in horror, as the pieces fit together. He had been so blind; they had all been so blind. He had to--had to compile all of this for the Jedi--or the Senate? Both?
Fox was torn from his racing thoughts by his comm, which was blinking angrily at him from where he had unceremoniously tossed it aside. Fox flinched, reaching down to pick it up off the floor of his office.
He had 113 unread messages; 9 missed calls. Dammit.
CT 7567 ‘Captain Rex’ has removed you from group, ‘Best Batch’
Group ‘Guard Command’ 74 unread messages
CC 2224 'Marshal Commander Cody', 17 unread messages, 4 missed calls
CC 3636 'Commander Wolffe', 10 unread messages, 2 missed calls
CC 5052 'Commander Bly', 8 unread messages, 1 missed call
CC 6048, 'Commander Thorn', 4 unread messages, 1 missed call
Fox bit his lower lip hard, feeling the taste of copper fill his mouth. He knew what he had to do. He just hoped his vode could forgive him after he had marched on. (Of course, they wouldn’t, who was he kidding?) Fox allowed himself ten minutes to put his head in his arms and break down.
He had work to do.
Coruscant, 501st barracks, ages 12 and 12 ½
“Sentients of Coruscant, reports have confirmed that Chancellor Sheev Palpatine was dead as of 2:53 this morning. Jedi Masters Windu and Kenobi have confirmed Palpatine was not only a traitor to the Republic but also a Sith Lord. The Jedi Council is expected to make an official statement by noon today. And now, new intel reveals it was Clone Commander CC-1010 of the Coruscant Guard who alerted the Jedi to the former Chancellors double life. CC-1010 is currently in critical condition at the Coruscant Medical Center, and unavailable for comment. Join us next on Coruscant United News for an exclusive interview with Senator Padmé Amidala and her views on the future of the Republic, the end of the war, and Naboo’s--”
Commander Cody clicked off the datapad, plunging himself and Rex into shocked silence. ARC Trooper Fives had died less than 24 hours ago, and neither Rex nor Cody had slept in nearly two rotations. Rex looked pale and shaky, the past 24 hours managing to unhinge the stalwart captain in a way Cody hadn’t seen since Umbara.
“Fox was serving directly under a Sith? And we never noticed?” The captain’s fingers tightened around his datapad, his knuckles whitening. “Kote, the last thing I told Fox was that I wished he was dead.” Rex sounded heartbreakingly young as he looked pleadingly at Cody, his back slumped and his arms wrapping around himself
“Oh, Rex’ika.” The commander sighed, reaching out to place an arm around Rex's shoulder. Rex just shook his head, clambering to his feet and moving towards the door, his fists clenched tightly at his sides. "I'm sorry, Kote, I-- I need some space."
Coruscant Medical Center, ages 12 and 12 ½
Fox woke up the first time to white-hot agony in every inch of his body, all other senses numbed by the overwhelming pain. There was a prick in the side of his neck, and then unconsciousness claimed him once again.
The second time Fox woke up, he felt a tube down his throat and cool, syrupy bacta pressing in on him from all sides. Fox writhed, his limbs moving of their own volition before the black dots on the inside of his eyelids converged.
Fox was drifting, Palpatine’s taunts inaudible behind the roaring in his ears. He hadn’t expected to still be alive, but that was clearly a miscalculation on his part; he should have realized Palpatine wouldn’t give him a quick death. Fox’s eyes rolled back in his head as another round of lightning tore through his limbs. Blood rushed from his nose and mouth, as he writhed on the ground of Palpatine’s office. Fox vaguely registered the sound of someone shouting, and the lightning had stopped, but the pain didn’t. Fox just wished he could move, or even open his eyes.
Fox woke up the third time screaming until his terror gave way to confusion. He opened his eyes to see a small hospital room and registered the faint prick of an IV in both arms. He was alone, but that was to be expected. Eventually, a Twi'lek nurse bustled over, giving him a soft smile as she checked his vitals and helped him sit upright on the bed. “Nice to see you awake, sir. My name is Aola, and I’ll be taking care of you until your release. Your brothers were very concerned about you.”
The nurse handed him a glass of water and helped him drink it slowly. “You were in bacta intermittently for almost two weeks, but you should make a full recovery, sir.”
“Thank you.” Fox got out, before he registered what she had said about his brothers. “Ma’am, you said my brothers were . . . concerned?”
The girl’s blue skin darkened slightly. “Yes, commander. I didn’t mean to gossip, but Commanders Cody, Bly, and Wolffe, and Captain Rex, have been here almost every day asking about you.”
“Oh.” Fox felt his eyes sting, his mouth falling open in shock. “They have? But--”
Aola patted his shoulder, politely pretending not to notice the sudden tears rolling down Fox's face. “Yes. They will be excited to hear you are awake, sir.”
Less than an hour later, the nurse was ushering Bly, Wolffe, Cody, and Rex into his room. She smiled hesitantly at Fox. “I’ll be next door if you need anything, sir.”
There was a moment of silence, before Fox attempted a half-smile, carefully avoiding Rex’s eyes. “Commanders. Captain. How can I help you?”
Predictably, it was Wolffe who responded first, his eyes blazing with fury. “Fox! You almost died and all you can say is, ‘how can I help you!?.”
Kote elbowed Wolffe, hissing, “Vod! Don’t shout at Fox while he’s in a hospital bed, you asshole.”
Bly ignored both of them, and hesitantly lowered himself onto the bed next to Fox. “Vod? Can I--can I give you a hug?”
Fox blinked in shock, staring between his batchmates. “Uh.” He glanced over at Bly, who was curling in on himself on the edge of the mattress and making every effort to look smaller. It was a technique that had been a lot more effective when he was a stage four cadet. “Sure, Bly.”
His brother sighed in relief, leaning closer to wrap his arms tightly around Fox’s torso, and resting his head on Fox’s collarbone. Kote and Wolffe were quick to forget their quarrel and join the hug, squeezing onto the too-narrow bed. Kote brushed a comforting hand through Fox’s curls, and Fox wasn’t sure when he had started crying.
After a long moment, Fox forced himself to pull away slightly, and glanced over at Rex’s feet. “Captain Rex. I--” He swallowed hard, biting his lip. “I owe you an apology.”
Here Fox forced himself to look his once-little brother in the eye. “I should’ve connected the dots about Palpatine earlier. And I’m . . .for what it’s worth, I’m sorry about Fives.”
Rex’s eyes were red-rimmed and contained more shock, and less revulsion than Fox was expecting. Rex was shaking his head throughout Fox’s apology, and as Fox finished speaking he stumbled over to the bed looking utterly miserable.
“No, Fox, I--” He swallowed down tears. “The Jedi looked into the chips Fives found. It wasn’t your fault. And I should have fucking known something was off! I said horrible things, and I--”
Rex angrily swiped tears off of his face. “I’m so sorry, Fox. I--I can leave now if you don’t want me here.”
Fox stared at Rex for a long moment, before his vod’ika’s final words registered. “Come here, you di’kut.” He grumbled, pushing Kote over to make room for Rex on his already overcrowded hospital bed.
Settling into his batchmate’s embrace, Fox knew they still had work to do. The Republic was in chaos, and his brothers still weren’t free. Pond’s absence still ached far more than any blaster shot. But for perhaps the first time, as he sank deeper into the love surrounding him, Fox knew they would be alright.