Rex aaaand uh. A dog
This is such a galaxy brained prompt, thank you for this! The dog in this is based off of an Australian shepherd, by the way :)
——————
To say Rex was tired would be an understatement. He’d been traveling nonstop the past few weeks in an effort to avoid catching anyone’s attention. If he stayed in one place for too long, someone was bound to notice that he looked a little familiar, and they’d call the authorities. He had to keep moving. Such was the life of someone in the run from the Empire.
The war hadn’t been over for too long. Rex watched his men die in a crash, helpless to do anything to help them. They had been prisoners of their own minds, though, and in a backwards sort of way, Rex was glad they were dead. Anything was better than being turned into mindless droids.
Not long after that crash, Rex split up with Ahsoka, knowing that they’d be safer apart. She’d given him contact information to people she thought could help, and Rex busied himself trying to take down the Empire before it could sink its poisonous claws into every part of the galaxy.
This is how Rex found himself traveling alone. Truly and utterly alone.
He hated being alone; the clones were never meant to be without each other, and yet here he was. Sure, he ran into the Bad Batch at one point (traveling with a child, and wasn’t that a sight to behold), but he couldn’t stay with them for long. He helped them get rid of their chips and then went on his way, back to his lonesome travels.
He refused to let it bother him, though. He buried himself in his work against the Empire, hoping that that might distract him from his situation, and it worked sometimes. Still, his own thoughts would often betray him, and he still often turned to speak to people who were no longer with him. It was a tough habit to break.
Rex only stopped on Dantooine to get food and refuel his ship. He didn’t intend to stay for long. He’d be in and out within a couple of hours. Surely that wasn’t enough time for anyone to notice his presence.
It didn’t take long for him to realize that he was being followed on his way through the market. He cursed his luck and the fact that he’d jinxed himself by telling himself he wouldn’t be noticed before slipping into an alleyway, intent on taking out whoever had been tailing him.
He leaned against the wall and slowly took out his blaster, crouching behind a trash can. He heard footsteps approaching nearer to his position. His muscles tensed before he took a deep breath and jumped out of his hiding place, blaster pointed at the owner of the footsteps…
… and the owner was a dog. Rex huffed a sigh and put his blaster back in his holster. The dog had not been startled at all by Rex’s actions, its stub for a tail wiggling so much that its whole behind was shaking. Its tongue lolled out of its mouth as it looked up at Rex with mismatched eyes, one brown and the other so light a shade of blue that it was nearly white.
Rex hesitated, unsure of what to do next. He knelt down on his knees to get closer to the dog’s level, his movements slow so that the dog wouldn’t suddenly lash out at him. The dog sat down and held up one of its paws. Not knowing what else to do, Rex took it and shook it like he would shake hands with another human being. The dog then took that as an invitation to get close to Rex, as it curled up and pressed its body against him. Rex relaxed further and began scratching its back, causing the dog to lean further into him.
“Thanks, bud.” Rex muttered, smiling. He was then mortified to realize that he was nearly crying at this simple display of affection from a dog. The dog seemed to sense his emotions, as it turned and began licking his face before the tears could even fall, causing Rex to laugh.
“Okay, okay, thank you. I’ve got to go now, okay?” Rex said, standing up. He began to leave the alleyway, stopping short when he realized the dog was following him.
“You can’t come with me.” He said with a sigh. The dog merely wagged its stub and practically grinned up at him.
“I don’t have a way to take care of a dog, and I travel a lot in my tiny ship. You really wouldn’t like it.” Rex continued as he walked out of the alley. The dog walked beside him to his right.
Rex really couldn’t keep a dog. His lifestyle was not a good way for a dog to live. Besides, this one probably belonged to someone… but, it did look pretty skinny. Maybe it didn’t have anyone, just like Rex. Maybe it was just as alone as him.
Rex sighed, eyeing a veterinarian’s office down the road. He stopped and looked down at the dog at his side.
“Okay. Maybe you can come with me.”
The dog barked and wagged its stub. Rex smiled for the first time in months.
Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: CC-5052 | Bly & CT-7567 | Rex Characters: CT-7567 | Rex, CC-5052 | Bly Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Kamino Is Terrible, bly is a good brother, rex is hurting, he misses his batchmates :( Summary:
Rex remembers one night back on Kamino when Bly was there.
Inspired by let the river in by saltsanford.
What if instead of Tiplee and Tiplar accompanying Anakin in "The Unknown" episode, Obi-Wan did? And what if instead of Fives and Tup, it's Cody and Rex?
Whumptober #28
Part 18 of Whumptober 2022
Chapter 5 of The Inevitable War AU is up!
Shortly after the mission to the Citadel, Rex, Fives, and Jesse stumble across an artifact that permanently changes Rex. With his newfound abilities, he must navigate the war as it draws to a close...
There was a stone in his boot. Rex glared down at his feet as if that would make the stone leave, but it was still irritatingly there. It was small, of course, just barely big enough for him to feel it, but it was right on the arch of his foot, where it was most tender. Chalking up a blister before it even formed, he sighed, readjusting his hold on his blaster pistols. Jesse looked over at him. “Chin up, Captain, just because we haven’t found anything yet doesn’t mean there’s nothing to find.” “I think we’re supposed to want there to be nothing to find,” Fives grumbled, kicking a clump of grass as the walked through the narrow canyon that led out toward the grasslands from the small abandoned settlement the rest of the 501st had set up camp in. “Looking for a Seppie base, remember?” “I remember,” Jesse said, nudging Fives with his elbow, “Just like I remember you leaping at the chance to go exploring.”
“That was before I knew that ‘exploring’ just meant wandering down a straight path,” Fives shot back.
Ordinarily, Rex would have scolded Fives for his tone, but as it was, it had been less than a month since he’d lost his ori’vod, Echo, so he cut him some slack. Gesturing with his pistol, he ushered the other two troopers down the canyon, scanning the walls as he did.
It was only because of that that he noticed the small crack in the wall, just large enough for someone to squeeze through. “Fives, Jesse,” he called, drawing their attention before carefully making his way through the crack.
As the other two followed, he took the opportunity to look around the tunnel the crack had led into. It didn’t look naturally created, the walls rough and uneven in a way that made him think it had been carved out by the local fauna, but the ceilings were tall, stretching above his head and making him feel small. Some sort of bioluminescent fungus grew on the walls, giving the place a dim lighting. Squaring his shoulders, he flicked on his headlamp anyway, not wanting to stumble over anything in the low light.
Fives and Jesse managed to get into the tunnel behind him, and Rex gestured for them to start making their way through the cave. Rex led the way, the others’ headlamps bouncing off the walls as they looked around.
The tunnel meandered for some distance. Right as Rex was about to call a halt so he could finally get the stupid rock out of his boot, they rounded a corner and Rex sucked in a breath. In the middle of the small cavern they found themselves in was what looked like an altar of some sort, lit by sunlight filtering through an overgrown hole in the ceiling.
Floating above the table was something Rex had only seen once before. Jesse seemed to recognize it as well, as he straightened. “Is that a Jedi holocron, sir?”
“It looks like.” Rex glanced around the chamber, noting some smashed pottery in the corners and faded flecks of paint on the walls. “This looks Jedi enough, must have been a meditation spot or something.”
“Should we comm the general, sir?” Fives asked, looking worried. He hadn’t been with the 501st during the original Jedi holocron incident, but he’d heard stories, and Rex thought he was right to be afraid. Force only knew what the Seppies could have done with this if they’d learned it was here.
Rex nodded. “Might as well try. I’ve no clue if the signal will get out, but with the hole in the ceiling, it’s worth a shot.”
Fives nodded and stepped forward, activating his comm. “This is ARC trooper Fives, calling forward camp. Do you read me?” Static over the line, and Fives cursed before trying again.
This time, someone answered. “Fives, we read you,” General Skywalker’s voice sounded tinny and was layered with static, but it was there. “What’s the situation?”
“We’ve, uh, discovered a Jedi artifact in a cave, sir.”
Skywalker sounded surprised. “A what? Nevermind, how do you know it’s Jedi?”
“Well, it’s floating in midair, sir, and I’m not detecting any magnetic field holding it up,” Fives said, a hint of sass in his voice, and Rex, removing his helmet, shot him a look.
It didn’t sound like Skywalker minded. “Okay, okay. Does it look dangerous?”
“No, sir. It’s just floating there.”
Jesse made to touch it, and Rex grabbed his arm, holding him back. “Not till the general says to,” he said in an undertone, and Jesse nodded.
“Bring it back to base,” Skywalker was saying, “But be careful. There’s no telling how long it’s been there, and what defenses it could have. I don’t want you boys getting buried if the cave collapses.”
“Copy that, sir. Fives out.” Fives cut the connection and turned to Rex. “Well, sir, I think it’d be best we got out of here.”
Rex nodded, then reached out. What happened next happened in a blur. His fingertips brushed the holocron, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up, right before pain like he’d never known ripped through him. He was vaguely aware that he screamed, but he wasn’t aware enough to stop himself. Lightning was ripping his cells apart, searing his DNA, and stitching the cells back together.
He heard more than saw the holocron drop and the boys run forward. The next thing he knew, Jesse’s familiar helmet was in his face, and his frantic voice was calling for Rex to respond, but before Rex could open his mouth, a fog rapidly crawled into his vision, thickening before finally everything went black.
I just thought of a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad au where during Umbara it’s Rex that’s injured and he’s begging Kix to leave him behind so Kix can keep outrunning the tanks. And Kix still tells Rex he sounds like General Krell but he’s more frustrated and afraid than angry. Kix manages to group Rex with the rest of the wounded and Rex orders Kix to leave them behind and initially Kix is like no Fucking way I’m leaving you all out here but Rex reasons with him that he’s the only medic with the company right now and he had to keep moving with the group and Rex would keep an eye on and defend the rest of the wounded. At this point Kix knows he’s right so he leaves with them with a bunch of supplies and keeps going with Torrent. At the end of the battle when their recovering everyone’s like oh Kriff where’s Rex?! Did we loose him?! Is he dead?! And Kix speaks up and tells them he’s with the wounded, which spurts Fives and company to try and go back and look for them but in the name of progress and sacrifice Krell forbids it. He temporarily promotes Jesse to captain because i think at the time he was Rex’s lieutenant but mostly because Krell liked Jesse’s attitude more than he liked Five’s. The rest of the arc continues the way it originally did but with Jesse and fives at the lead. Meanwhile, Rex and like 25 other troops are lost in a foreign environment in the center of hostile territory on a planet far from any republic system, dwindling rations and medical supplies trying their best to live off the land for weeks. Rex had found a cave for the men to hide out in and made a camp there. Since he’s the captain and one of the least injured he goes out trying to locate and contact the gar while finding food and supplies. Between encounters with natural predators and Umbaran squads he always comes back more injured than he left. At this time Anakin gets back and he’s also like umm where’s Rex?? When the 501st tells him what happened he’s pissed and immediately goes out into the jungle to find Rex. And he does, just in time too because Rex had gotten his legs caught in a trap and was too injured to walk or fight and was surrounded by enemy Umbarans. Rex and the others wounded are rescued and get shipped of to a medical station for a while. When they get back hella comfort ensues and torrent is never letting Rex out of their sight again. Over the next few months however it’s clear that Rex has developed a significant amount of trauma and ptsd from the experience and is finding it hard to integrate back into and function within the gar.
For the clone hc thing uhhhh because of the blue shadow virus, Rex's immune system had been compromised leading to him getting sick easier then other clones, but he hates to admit it when it happens so he tries to power through the sickness. It falls to torrent (mostly Kix) to bully him into resting when this happens XD
Summary: Rex’s immune system has never been the same since the Blue Shadow virus. Cue Torrent company holding an intervention.
Pairing: None
Tags: sick rex, caring brothers, torrent company being the best vod, rex is very loved, but also stubborn when he gets sick
Word Count: 922
A/N: This was fun to write! Mando’a translations at the end. Headcanon submitted as part of this post.
|| Masterlist || Tag list ||
Rex gave a disgruntled sniffle as he walked down the halls of the Resolute, shivering lightly even under his full armour. In one hand he held a datapad and a stack of flimsi reports, in the other, a handful of tissues.
Ever since he contracted the Blue Shadow virus the previous year, Rex found he fell sick more often than most of his brothers, and that it hit him harder when he did. But, he was a soldier. He was the Captain of the 501st Legion and he had work to do. He wasn’t about to let a little sickness get in his way. They were at war, for Force sake!
Unfortunately, his vod’ikas had other plans.
----
Jesse was first to spot their ori’vod looking, well, for lack of a better word, osik. If it hadn’t been for the puffy eyes and coughing, the stumbling would have given him away. He tapped a few buttons on his wrist comm, tapping through to Five’s private comm link.
“Fives, we’ve got a protocol 57, spread the word.”
“Damn it, again?”
Fives responded almost immediately with a chuckle, and Jesse could hear shuffling on the other end, then a few beeps and Echo joined them. Before long, the rest of Torrent company was on the comm.
Fives chuckled as he and Echo made a quiet escape from the training room,
“Right, let's have a clean sweep this time, eh vod?”
Dogma laughed,
“Don’t worry, we got this. 34th times a charm, right?”
Tup elbowed him, and Fives continued.
“Echo and I are on point, we’ll run interference at the armoury and push him up to the bridge. Hardcase, you find him and get him to us.”
Jesse rolled his eyes as the rest of his brothers recited their jobs. “I’ll get word down to Kix. Good luck di’kuts.”
Jesse rolled his eyes as the rest of his brothers recited their jobs. “I’ll get word down to Kix. Good luck di’kuts.”
----
Rex was idly rubbing his temples as he headed for the mess hall, too engrossed in his datapad to notice Hardcase approaching him at first. Engrossed may be the wrong word, when really he was just trying to make the words stop moving.
“Captain…” Hardcase jogged to catch up with him. “Sir, are you alright?”
Rex snapped out of it, turning to face the trooper. He cleared his throat, balling his tissues in his palm.
“Hardcase, I’m fine, why do you ask?”
“You're headed for the mess and lunch finished an hour ago.” He nodded to the empty mess hall, beginning to guide him away and down the brightly lit hallway. “Are you sure you’re alright? Echo was looking for you to oversee an inventory in the armoury but I can help him if you’d like. I think Kix is still down in medical if-”
“That won’t be necessary. Thank you, Hardcase.”
The man just shrugged and clasped his hands behind his back. “I have the next training session, I’ll walk with you to the armoury, Sir.”
Rex loved all his vod, really, he did. But he did not have the energy for Hardcase right now. Still, he powered through, nodding his head.
Hardcase did. not. stop. talking. and gesturing energetically the entire time. He saluted the Captain as he stopped outside the armour, where Fives and Echo were conveniently just leaving, standing to attention.
He gave them a wink and left them in the company of their now exhausted Captain.
Rex waved his hand to put the arc troopers at ease, nodding inside the inventory and coughing.
“You needed me to do an inventory?”
Echo shook his head, “It’s alright Sir, Fives assisted me.”
“Are you alright, Captain? We can handle the bridge report this evening, why don’t you turn in early? You must be exhausted-” Fives tried, maybe they’d get lucky.
“I’m quite alright, boys.” Rex said suspiciously. “Why do you all keep asking if I’m alr-”
Rex cut himself off with a rather large sneeze, followed by a coughing fit. Fives grinned, giving Echo a look behind his ori’vod’s back.
“I think Tup was looking for your Sir, you might want to catch him on your way to the bridge, it seemed important.”
Rex suppressed his complaints and rubbed his temple, nodding. “Thanks vod.”
He set off again, and Echo was straight on his comm.
“Dogma, he’s all yours.”
----
On his way to find Tup on the bridge, Rex caught Dogma sprinting at the other side of the hallways, a stack of flimsi in his hand. Rex wasn’t in the mood for this, groaning and rubbing his temples.
“Dogma, what did I say about run-”
“Sorry Sir, I wa- wooooah-”
Dogma skidded to a halt in an attempt to salute his Captain and ‘tripped’, landing on the cold durasteel floor and clutching his ankle.
Rex kneeled beside him, shaking his head with a sigh. “Dank farrik, not again. Come on, let’s get you to Kix.”
Dogma let Rex help him up and limped all the way to the medical bay where Jesse was standing with Kix, grinning.
Kix just rolled his eyes and shooed Dogma away, who promptly stood on his perfectly uninjured feet and joined Jesse at the door.
“What the-”
Kix pointed to the nearest cot. “On the cot, Sir, you look like bantha shit.”
Rex opened his mouth to protest, and was hit with a fit of coughing. Scowling, he resigned himself to his fate and climbed up onto the cot. He shot a look at Jesse and Dogma, standing smugly in the doorway wearing matching smirks.
“Di’kuts.”
Jesse and Dogma just grinned as Hardcase, Fives, Echo and Tup’s heads appeared one by one, sticking around the doorframe.
“We love you too, ori’vod.”
---
Vod’ikas - little brothers
Ori’vod - big brother
Osik - shit
Di’kuts - idiots
Vod - brother
Dank farrick - fuck
Yaypril Day 18 - AU, and more specifically wing fic!AU with Rex and the commanders batch
Usually, Rex isn’t the worst when it comes to sitting still and being patient. But today, he can’t help but be fidgety, as his feathers are being painted in the colors of his new battalion. Not because he can’t wait to see the result, although that is also true, but mostly because the process itches, way more than he thought it would.
“Stop wriggling so much!”
That’s easy for Fox to say. He’s not the one who’s had to keep his wings spread for the past half-hour. Despite his best efforts to stay still, Rex squirms as he feels the dyeing brush his brother is using drag along one of his primaries.
“I can’t help it! It tickles!”
He’s tried to stay still and not complain, he really has, but he sure didn’t expect the experience to be that challenging. Getting their naturally pristine white feathers colored is an important tradition to all vode, just like painting their helmets and armors. As the eldest of their batch, it’s Fox’s role to help Rex with it, just like he has done for the rest of their siblings.
His ori’vod has helped him draw the jaig eyes he’s chosen for himself so it’ll fit on his wings, and Rex feels extremely grateful for all the time and patience he’s put into this already. The last thing he want is to sound whiny.
“If you move too much, it might alter the final design, and I’m sure you don’t want that. Don’t worry, it won’t last for much longer, since you asked for something sensible, and not a whole damn wolf’s face.”
At that, Fox sends an accusing look at Wolffe over Rex’s shoulders. Their whole batch is here, gathered for the special occasion. Bly, Cody and Ponds snicker at the comment, and Wolffe immediately stands up, puffing up his feathers in annoyance.
“Fuck you, my wings look awesome!”
To prove his point, he spreads them wide, putting the symbol of the 104th on display.
“Obviously, since it’s my work. However, having my wrist aching for a week after I finished it wasn’t so great.”
Rex chuckles as his siblings keep bickering, staying still now that he’s distracted. He barely registers the pull on his feathers anymore, and is almost surprised when Fox announces that he’s done, only to realize his older brother provoked the whole commotion on purpose to give him something to focus on.
He might have to wait a little to let the dye sit on before rinsing it off, but even without seeing the final result, Rex can say he’ll love it already, all because of the care Fox put into accompanying him through this.
“ c'mere. let me give you a hug. “ with Kix and Rex maybe, please?
Thanks for asking, anon! The ending references my fic Golden Heart because I can’t resist an opportunity to reference it :)
——————
Kix stood outside Rex’s quarters, staring at the door as though it had done something to offend him. He was hesitant to knock on the door, and he’d never been hesitant before, but…
But, after Umbara, Kix was hesitant to approach anyone, especially Rex.
Umbara took a toll on everyone. Kix could see it in the way everyone held themselves. Their energies were slightly subdued. Tup seemed lost with Dogma gone, and Fives had taken to the young trooper pretty quickly. Fives liked to help people in order to distract himself from his own problems and, well, there were worse coping mechanisms out there. Kix would have to talk to him at some point to make sure he was actually addressing his own issues.
Jesse had taken things hard, too. Losing Hardcase was rough on both Jesse and Kix because he was their batchmate. They were working through their grief together, and it would be a long process, but at least they weren’t alone.
Shaking himself out of his musings, Kix thought back to the matter at hand. He was standing outside of Rex’s door, fist hovering just a few inches away from knocking. He knew that Rex was also struggling with his own guilt for everything that happened in Umbara. Kix thought he could help.
Kix remembered with great clarity the moment that he snapped at Rex and accused him of acting like General Krell when Rex ordered him to leave the injured behind.
The guilt of that interaction was hanging like an albatross around Kix’s neck. Looking back on it, he realized that Rex had been put in an impossible situation where he had to mediate between his men, his brothers, and a leader whose entire goal was to get them killed. Rex was right, too— Kix had to survive and carry on because if he wasn’t alright, then there would‘ve been no one else to take care of other injured brothers.
Kix knew he had to apologize for his outburst, both for his own ease of mind and for Rex’s. Still, he hesitated, and was about to turn on his heel and come back another time when the door to Rex’s quarters slid open, and the captain himself stood in the doorway. He jumped a bit upon seeing Kix there, obviously not having been aware of his presence just beyond his walls.
“Sir,” Kix said, slowly lowering his fist from where it was poised to knock on the door, “may I have a word with you?”
Rex furrowed his brows together but nodded and gestured to have Kix enter his quarters.
The room was in disarray. Rex’s armor was skewed about the room in a disorderly fashion, which was uncharacteristic for his usual organized room. There were datapads strewn about the floor as well, all incomplete paperwork that had to be filled out in the aftermath of a battle.
Kix didn’t comment on any of this, and instead stood in the corner of the room, looking at his feet and fiddling with the sleeve of his body glove.
There was silence between the pair for a few moments. Rex sat himself on his unmade bed and regarded Kix with a blank expression, not that Kix noticed his gaze, as focused on the ground as he was.
Finally, Kix took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry.” He was startled, then, upon realizing that Rex had said the same thing in sync with him.
“Sir? What do you have to apologize for?” Kix asked.
“The… the campaign as a whole. I let you all down, and you had to bear the brunt of so many unfair situations. I never should ordered you to leave those men behind. That’s not what we’re trained to do, and I asked you to do it anyway. So, I’m sorry.” Rex explained, now looking at the ground instead of at Kix.
Kix scoffed, “Sir, Rex, I don’t blame you for that. I’m sorry for comparing you to General Krell in that moment. You are nothing like him, and I just said that because I was tired and frustrated. I know you were put in a ridiculously tough scenario and… it’s been weighing on you as much as it’s been weighing on me, maybe even more.”
Rex just sniffed and nodded slowly. He glanced at Kix and let a slight smile grace his face, “C’mere. Let me give you a hug.” He said, holding out his arm as an invitation.
Kix sighed dramatically and sat down on the bed next to Rex, leaning into and returning his older brother’s embrace.
“You’re never going to let me forget that I gave you a hug when I was still in medic training, are you?” Kix said with a sigh.
Rex laughed, “Oh, definitely not. But, hey, I think this hug is helping, so maybe the research you did back then wasn’t all for nothing.”
“Damn straight.” Kix said with a huff. Rex let out a laugh at that, and Kix allowed himself a chuckle, too.
Umbara left wounds on them all, but… they would heal with time (and maybe a few hugs, too).
Hey, look’s who got a tumblr. Me! I hope you enjoy these little drabbles. I worked hard on these.
Word Count: 300
Characters: Rex, Anakin Skywalker
Enjoy!!
Rex hated having Jango as his template. One word. Curls. He hated them. That’s why he always buzzed his head as short as he could get it. He hated his curls.
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