So I've Given Glinda Anxiety. I've Given Her Adhd. I've Given Her Autism. All Of Those Kinda Make Sense.

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Star Wars - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Clone Commander Blackout & CT-7567 | Rex, ARC-77 | Fordo & CT-7567 | Rex, Coric & CT-7567 | Rex Characters: Clone Commander Blackout (Star Wars), CT-7567 | Rex, ARC-77 | Fordo, Clone Trooper Coric (Star Wars), ARC Trooper Stec (Star Wars), Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano Additional Tags: Planet Teth (Star Wars), Post-Battle Of Teth, Post-Battle of Christophsis, Teth is its own warning, Battle of Hypori, there’s a lot going on ok, Alternate Universe, Jai'galaar Verda AU, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, No Beta we die like. like. everyone from torrent-, Author Is Sleep Deprived, The Author is Screaming Series: Part 3 of Jai'galaar Verda Summary:

Blackout received his Jaig eyes recently - only to learn that, apparently, he now is part of ancient magic. Fordo and his squad have been called in to save Jedi, but there is more than just one thing off about… well, everything, unfortunately. It just can’t ever be easy, can it? Rex has a lot to do, between the shriek-hawk in his head and the new padawan in his legion. Soon, both will be the least of his problems.

[You have to read at least Blue before this one - it’s a direct continuation.]

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

Protocol 57: Get The Captain To Rest

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

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.

I had a sudden urge to write out the moment Nova learns that Rex gets Ahsoka as a Padawan and I guess it spawned this, whoops ^^

Words: about 1k

Warnings: none

No pairings or anything, just brothers being brothers and Kio being cute. Continues a bit under the cut.

———

It’s almost the night cycle on the Serenity when Nova gets an incoming comm from Rex. He’s been diligently cleaning his helmet with a brush, trying to get dirt out of all the small edges while Kio has been softly snoring away on his lap as his wristcomm starts blinking at him.

Which is, for lack of a better word, unusual.

He and Rex usually message before a call, to prevent unplanned interruptions of the others work. They almost never comm each other spontaneously. Nova tries to remember what campaign his brother is currently on, and whether he should be worried that Rex is in some sort of trouble -quickly pushing the thought or worse away. Frowning, he lifts his wristcomm, ready to accept the call when he sees its actually a request for in-helmet.

Careful not to disturb the sleeping Padawan on his lap he shimmies his helmet on, turning off the external speakers. When he accepts the call he is greeted by not only audio, but Rex’s helmet cam as well. Rex seems to briskly walking through the hangar of his General's flagship, brothers milling about around him.

“Rex? You alright?“ Nova asks, worry rising in his throat. He can hear Rex’s rough breathing over the connection and recognizes the first signs of a possible panic attack.

"Do you still have that manual that you and your boys set up?" Rex asks instead, his voice sounding tight.

"Manual? What's going on-"

"They gave him a Padawan, Nova.” Rex brings out, and he sounds like he doesn’t quite believe his own words, “They gave Skywalker a kriffin' Padawan."

Nova feels only slightly guilty about the slow grin spreading on his face as he tries to remember wat Rex had previously said about the matter. He distinctly remembers his brother’s relief when he found out that he would be assigned a Jedi Knight without a young tag along to worry about.

"I thought you said your General didn't want one?" Nova replies, carefully trying to keep his amusement from his voice since Rex is clearly not finding this as funny as he does.

"I did. He did.” Rex says through clenched teeth. His bucket is still moving and slowly a group of some troopers standing next to a tall figure and a clearly shorter figure further ahead come into view.

“I don't think he had a choice in the matter.” Rex continues, “They dropped her off in the middle of a warzone too. What the kriff am I supposed to do with her? She's running into fights half naked." His voice rises in pitch with his last words and Nova barely manages to surpress a snort as he glances down at Kio’s bare arms dangling of the bench they’re seated on. At least his kid wears some leather chest armor.

"So you want advice from me?” he questions instead. Sure, he and Kio get along well, but the situation with General Cos is less than ideal and he doesn’t feel like he is in any position to tell others what to do with a child.

"You've had your kid tagging along from the start, you got experience.” Rex grounds out, “What do I kriffin' do? Skywalker alone is already making me go prematurely grey. Now there's two of them."

The gaggle of people is now completely coming into view of Rex’s helmet cam and Nova can make out his brother’s General easily with his tall stature and floppy hair. He seems to be arguing with a much shorter figure, his arms gesturing wildly. There are some troopers surrounding them, apparently awkwardly waiting for orders to be dismissed. When one of them steps aside to avoid an arm swung at his face Nova gets a good view of the new Padawan.

This time he can’t keep in his laughter. There, arguing with a Jedi General twice her height, is a tiny Togruta girl firmly standing her ground. Judging by the height of her montrals she’s a little older than Kio and like Rex said she’s wearing only some scraps of fabric. She seems to match the General in energy, waving her arms around to get some point or another across.

"That's them?" Nova chokes out, trying to keep himself from shaking too much to not wake up Kio.

"Yeah they've been at it since we got back. Are you laughing at me?" Rex asks him incredulously and Nova has to give himself a second to breathe before he can answer.

"No.” Nova gasps in mock insult, before snorting again, “Yes. Better prepare yourself, she certainly looks like she has spirit."

Rex just grumbles something unintelligible in his ear before muttering, "She's going to be the death of me, I can feel it. "

"So dramatic." Nova mocks dryly and starts laughing again, not able to keep his shoulders from shaking this time. He feels Kio stir and push himself up, a grumpy look on his face from being woken up.

"Who're you talking to?" The kid grumbles and Nova squeezes his shoulder to let him know he needs a second.

"Sorry, vod. I gotta go." He tells Rex, “I’m sure you’ll figure it all out soon enough.”

On the corner of the helmet cam he can see that Rex’s new Padawan has shifted her attention from her Master to Rex and is giving him a questioning look, though Rex himself doesn’t seem to have noticed it yet.

"Just send me that manual, alright?" Rex repeats, a note of urgency in his voice.

"Yeah, yeah.” Nova assures him, “Oh, and Rex. Togruta have better hearing than we do."

The cam shifts a bit to the side until suddenly the Padawan is in full view and the audible gasp tells him that Rex now realizes that she may have heard more than he wanted to.

"Ahh, kriff me."

The cadet raised his head, the blond curls cut short enough that they couldn’t really be called curls anymore, and his dark eyes examined 10 head to toe, with such intensity that 10 had to look away.

”This is CT-7567”, Alpha introduced him, and CT-7567 got up, standing straight and looking somewhere at 10’s eyebrows. 10 recognised what he was doing and looked up at Alpha, who was smiling at him, despite 10 not seeing any reason to do so.

If he could talk, if he could just- force the words out, he’d ask what the kriff was he trying to do.

”He’s like you”, Alpha explained, confirming 10’s suspicions. ”His brain is wired the same way as yours: a little differently than the rest of us. I think you’d get along just fine.”

CT-7567 glanced between Alpha and 10 before frowning. ”We’re not the same. Similar, but not the same.” His voice was monotonous and even, unlike 10’s whose voice trembled and stuttered and made weird pitch changes throughout his sentences.

Yeah. Definitely not the same.

Alpha nodded and stepped between them, offering CT-7567 his hand, which he didn’t take, but took a step forward regardless. 10 faced the ground and shook Alpha’s hand off of his shoulder, the beam of the light above him striking his eyes like shattered glass. He blinked and pulled his shoulders to his ears, clenching his fists.

”I know that. But you’re more similar to each other than you’re to me, or the other cadets. I thought this way you could have some company, maybe help each other with tasks and training, and maybe, maybe-”, Alpha looked pointedly at CT-7567, ”become friends.”

10 glanced up momentarily to look CT-7567 in the eye, standing the eyecontact long enough to maybe find out how he was feeling. Of course it was to no avail, his eyes were as much of a mystery as anyone elses, except for the intense frown.

Frown: an indicator of disapproval or displeasure.

10 turned his head to look at the corner of the room, hiding his pained grimace. He glanced at Alpha, who looked back at CT-7567, and humphed.

”He’s always frowning. Nothing personal.”

Fox breathed out and stubbornly faced the other way. He counted the tiles of the wall, going up and to the right and down in a geometric shape.

65.

He heard Alpha’s kama shuffle when he sat down, CT-7567 following suit, but 10 couldn’t make his legs move.

”Take your time”, Alpha reassured and whispered something to CT-7567. 10 breathed out and started counting, the steps from the messhall to his bunk, the windows on their way from the classroom C-2 to B-14, the amount of freckles on his nosebridge, the snores it took from Wolffe to wake Cody up and slap him awake.

236.

19.

7.

4.

10 inhaled deeply, facing Alpha and CT-7567 again, and exhaled as he sat down opposite of CT-7567. He was still frowning, looking at 10 like he was dirt stuck on his shoe, and 10 wanted to cry.

”Easy now”, Alpha said, and laid his hands on the floor. 10 did the same, feeling the cold durasteel prickle his palms, a grounding sensation that he put all his focus on, counting the stings on each hand before he lost count. When he did, he began again. And again, and again, until his palms were numb and his hands started to warm up the floor.

10 looked up at CT-7567, who was still sitting straight, his hands folded in his lap, stubbornly facing the ground between them. 10 wondered if he’d have wrinkles on his forehead as deep as Jango Fett’s before he would even get deployed to war.

CT-7567 seemed to sense 10’s staring and he picked his head up, staring back. 10 glanced uncertainly at Alpha, who nodded and smiled.

”OK. You’re both OK now, yeah?”, he asked, his voice sounding gruff and deep like he had something stuck in his throat. He coughed, making CT-7567 flinch and instantly slap his ears, before hastily putting them back down in his lap and look down, his ears reddening along with his cheeks.

Blushing: a sign of embarrassment, shyness or shame.

”It’s OK”, Alpha said, tapping the ground next to CT-7567’s knee, ”like I said. You’re both OK. This is a safe space, like we discussed. Here you don’t have to hide your stims.”

CT-7567 nodded rigidly and started instantly picking at the skin of his palm, where 10 could see a faint red mark already forming on top of a light patch that seemed like a scar. 10 wondered if he had been picking it for a long time, or if it had been a wound from practice which CT-7567 had then picked the scarring off of, like 10 used to. Before he had been threatened to stop.

10 looked at Alpha, wondering. Alpha didn’t seem to want CT-7567 to stop, he just stared out the window with an expression that made the lines on his face smoother and the tension in his eyes loosen. He didn’t pay attention to CT-7567, so 10 wondered if he’d make 10 stop either.

10 decided to test out his theory and tapped his right thigh with his fingers. Alpha didn’t react, but kept looking at the window, eyes following the motions of the racing raindrops. 10 looked at CT-7567, who hadn’t noticed it either, or maybe he just didn’t care.

10 tapped his thigh again, now with his whole hand, making a sound loud enough that Alpha had had to hear it, but he didn’t look away from the storm. 10 curled his hand into a fist and hit his thigh, now making his whole body shake, and Alpha still didn’t look at him.

10 raised his eyebrows and curled his other hand into a fist too, now hitting his hips in turns, a second in between each hit, after four hits he’d inhale and after two hits he’d exhale. He didn’t look at Alpha anymore, deciding that if he didn’t care, neither would 10. He instead stared in front of him, not concentrating on anything, but letting his eyes unfocus and his eyelids droop as he breathed and hit his hips lightly, making his stomach bounce from side to side, counting each hit in an even rhythm.

It felt good. With his eyes closed the lights were dim, only light sparks above his eyelids, not making his eyes water and drill pain into his skull. He could only hear the steady breathing of Alpha, the occasional sound when CT-7567’s fingers would tap together, the howling wind outside, the rain hitting the glass. The world went quiet, only his fists hitting his hips, his stomach jiggling, his whole body swaying from side to side.

Before he even noticed it, he was shaking, but in a good way, not in the way that he did when the trainers yelled at him, or when the messhall was too loud, or when his brothers were talking on top of each other making it too hard to concentrate. He felt his anxieties disappear and the pressure in his chest vanish, his thoughts quieting down and the outside seemed to feel enough. Not too much or too little, but just enough to keep him grounded, but not pressurized. It felt right.

10 huffed out a breath and wiped his cheek. To his surprise his hand got wet and he opened his eyes to look at it, his tears glistening on it. He wiped it quickly on his pants, sheepishly glancing up at Alpha, who had now closed his eyes. He looked at CT-7567, who was swaying from side to side, his eyes closed, his fingers lightly tapping his knees. 10 breathed out his relief and quickly dried his face and sniffled as quietly as he could, but in the silence of the small room it didn’t go unnoticed. Alpha opened his left eye and smiled at 10. 10 tensed his left cheek, lifting his lips into something Wolffe called a smirk.

”You feeling better?”, Alpha asked quietly, and 10 nodded, turning to look at CT-7567, who was still swaying gently, quietly humming now. ”Let’s give him some more time.”

10 turned to stare out the window, his eyes watering a little, but not just from the lights. He felt so safe, so- so light, like he had been at the bottom of the ocean and had finally resurfaced and breathing fresh air. His breath didn’t catch when he inhaled, and his hands didn’t tremble, but were steady and ready to hold a blaster, and hit his targets. 10 did some practice motions, aiming everywhere around him, and Alpha hummed.

”You trying to shoot me?”, he grumbled, and 10 was ready to shout his protest, before noticing Alpha’s smile.

Oh. A joke.

10 smiled, ”smirked” in return, and shook his head. Alpha huffed out a laugh, the ground trembling slightly, and CT-7567 opened his eyes. They looked dim, relaxed, his eyelids were drooping and he kept swaying however slightly.

”You ready?”, Alpha asked, placing a hand next to CT-7567’s knee.

CT-7567 blinked at him, and 10 could almost see his brain trying to form words.

”F-for what?”, he stuttered a little, and 10 thought maybe they weren’t so different after all.

”For sleep”, Alpha smiled, and got up. 10 glanced at CT-7567 at the same time as CT-7567 glanced at him, and if not for his blond hair he could’ve been 10’s reflection.

”You- we- we did all this- and now- sleep?”, CT-7567 kept stuttering, and got up, dusting his pants. ”I thought we’d-”

”You’re both tired, no?”, Alpha asked, looking at them both with his hands on his hips. ”If you feel like it we can train or do math..”

”No thank you,” CT-7567 said quickly and 10 could feel his face muscles quiver. He embraced the smirk creeping on his face and smiled at CT-7567, then at Alpha who looked at him with the same pride and fondness as the day 10 had spoken his first word.

CT-7567 didn’t smile back, but his frown mildened a little into something that 10 had to search his mind for a long time.

Smugness: having excessive pride in oneself’s achievements.

10 tilted his head at CT-7567, who took a step forward and offered his hand to 10. He hesitated a little before accepting it, and let CT-7567 pull him up. 10 dusted his pants too, and stood in line next to CT-7567 as Alpha looked at them both fondly.

”I’m proud of you two”, he said, and 10 could feel warmth spreading in his chest. ”I know it was just a few minutes in a closed space but- this is the first step into unlearning your mindset towards stimming. It feels good, doesn’t it? I saw how you both easened up, relaxed.”

10 and CT-7567 glanced at each other, and CT-7567 shrugged. 10 mimicked the gesture and glanced at Alpha.

”Yes”, he whispered, his throat strained and scratchy, ”it felt nice.”

CT-7567 nodded eagerly beside him, and Alpha smiled.

”This room is for you two. I’ll make sure that you have your space and peace, so that you can do whatever, whenever, when you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed, or just want to be alone. You can also meet up here, if you ever need to, OK? This is for you two, only. I promise.”

10 took a deep inhale and looked at CT-7567, who nodded at him and 10 exhaled. He nodded back and smirked, to which CT-7567 stopped frowning for a moment before doing so again and looking back at Alpha.

”Just us?”, he asked, and Alpha nodded.

”Just you.”

”Will we- will we be- could-”, CT-7567 tried, and coughed. ”Could- Cody-”

”If you want to, you can ask someone to come with you”, Alpha said, crossing his arms. ”Mainly I meant this as a… secret lair of sorts, so that the Longnecks won’t find out what you’re doing. The trainers too. So, try to keep it lowkey, OK?”

CT-7567 confirmed affirmative, 10 nodded. Alpha smiled at them and turned around. ”Come on. I’ll take you to bed. And- remember, keep this a secret, OK? If a non-brother asks, you’re here to receive extra training. Understood?”

This time 10 and CT-7567 confirmed affirmative aloud in unison.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/38513596

Another one on ao3!!!!

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody & CC-1010 | Fox, CC-2224 | Cody & CT-7567 | Rex Characters: CC-2224 | Cody, CC-1010 | Fox, CT-7567 | Rex, Blitz (Star Wars), Colt (Star Wars) Additional Tags: 212th Appreciation Week, Prompt | Magic/Mythology/Fantasy, Sirens, Sirens AU, CCs as Sirens, beginning of the war, Kaminoans Being Assholes (Star Wars), but they’re not actually given a chance to be assholes this time, 212th CT-7567 | Rex Series: Part 3 of Shon'laar, Part 9 of 212th Appreciation Week Summary:

The war has begun, and with the war comes new responsibilities. Not everyone is happy with their assignments, but the vode make do. And some force changes.

@212thappreciation for the Fantasy/Mythology prompt

After the Captain

They haunted him at night.

For a while, Rex had convinced himself he was doing okay. He kept moving, place to place, camp to camp, never packing more than he could carry. If it wasn’t in his armor, or tucked into the pockets of his cloak, he didn’t need it. He got up in the morning before the sun, of whatever planet it was today, did. He kept a low profile, watched the gazes of those around him slide over his face without recognition. He collected what he could - bits of data from loosely guarded corners of the networks, bits of food people forgot to chase after, spare parts and necessities from those who forgot to remember them.

In a sense, they’d forgotten him too - him, and the thousands and thousands of people who shared his face. The vode were fading already, sinking to the back of public memory as the Empire hung its gaudy trappings and spread its newly-hatched wings.

But those endless faces never left him alone.

Identical.

Unique. Given the same blank canvas, each person who picks it up will paint something new.

And they had.

He had.

That was the thing. Because he had been one of them, once. There hadn’t been a moment when he hadn’t had someone to turn to, a piece of advice, a shoulder to lean on or a hand to hold or the person next to you, ready to fall in step as you go.

Captain.

They all said it differently, and he did too. It was wry, or joking, affectionate, or sincere, respectful or hopeful or a thousand things he couldn’t name.

For him, it was weighted. Thankful, in a way, desperate, in another. It was the responsibility of all of those faces, all of their newly-painted canvases warped from a galaxy they never knew. But they had never cared, stacking themselves on themselves until someone could make their identity out of the pieces of the others. He could see them without asking their names or finding their faces.

Tup’s smile bled into the horizon, the vod’ika he couldn’t save.

Fives’s laugh echoed in his ears, and something tore in Rex’s stomach every time.

Echo’s hands lingered on his, after the thousandth battle plan, and Rex could only see them shocked thin and wizened and paper-white, abandoned and alone.

Hardcase moved in the corner of his eye, off to his next adventure, and he was gone because Rex hadn’t the strength to stop him.

Kix’s side of the bed was empty, lost to the wind without a word.

Jesse was gone, stolen away, nothing but a body inside of a helmet Rex had helped him paint.

Captain.

There were so many things he could have done. So many things he should have done, would have turned the impossible upside down if it meant saving them for a day, a rotation, a year, a life they never got to live, trauma they never had to have.

Captain.

He heard it in their voices, in Hawk’s voice, in Charger’s voice, in Appo’s and Sterling’s and Koho’s and Vere’s and so many more that he never got the chance to save. He heard it in General Skywalker’s, barely-hidden humor and a kind of sarcastic optimism that infused his steps and his words. He even heard it in Ahsoka’s voice, and he knew she was fine, knew she could take care of herself. But it’s her as barely a Padawan, thrown into a war too big for her, it’s her as a newly-minted commander, it’s her growing into a kind of maturity she shouldn’t have to understand. But he did, because they all did.

It’s Ahsoka’s voice, broken, her hands bloodied and battered from digging their graves. She’s shattered, and there was no one there to hand her a needle and thread and teach her how to sew her scars together.

Captain.

Tup cries, and Fives gasps as his heart fails, and Echo’s hands are cold, and Hardcase closes his eyes before an explosion swallows him whole. Kix’s absence says more than his words ever could, but there’s a ghost of him in all the places he isn’t. And Jesse watches them all. Rex’s mind can imagine what his face looked like, behind his helmet. His eyes glaze and his mouth sets and his newly blank canvas amounts to nothing more than kindling.

Rex wakes up with the salty taste of tears on his tongue. He’s never had to be alone before.

So they haunt him at night, and still he tried to convince himself that he’s okay. He doesn’t deserve not to be. He couldn’t save them. It’s up to him to deal with the ghosts.

He woke before the sun, of whatever today’s planet was. He kept a low profile. He collected what he could.

He kept moving.

*******

oof I hurt myself with this one.

I love Rex. I write for him all the time. But when the prompt was "Captain Rex" I was like....uh....what do I do? (find the full list @clonetober - I can't believe it's been 20 days already.)

It took awhile, but this is what I came up with. What does our boy do after the end of the war?

(it'd be a humanitarian effort to a. give him a many hugs and b. teach him healthy coping strategies.)

Angstober Day 21

Can’t Save Everyone

Spoiler: This is an excerpt from Sea Shadow

He exchanges a look with an equally desperate, confused looking Ahsoka. It’s reminding him so much of Mortis suddenly, of when the Son was controlling her and she attacked him. He doesn’t want to have to face that from Rex too, only months later. Everything that happened there still haunts him sometimes.

“Rex, it’s doing something to you,” he says, “Remember what I said about it influencing minds?”

Rex blinks, staring at him. “Yes. But it’s not here. This is…”

One of the Gungans yowls and jumps at them, half-blindly. It hits Ahsoka, and they tumble to the ground, rolling through the grass.

Why is he attacking her?

What’s happening to them? It’s like they’re all being mind-controlled, and he doesn’t know what to do, to stop it. Probably, they have to kill that thing.

Anakin yanks the Gungan off her with the Force, sprinting over to position himself between them and her. They’ll never be able to take everyone with them, either way. They’ll have to take Rex now, and come back for the others, as much as he doesn’t want to leave anyone else behind. There’s no choice. That doesn’t make him loath it any less, how it feels like he’s abandoning all the rest to their fates.

“Rex come, we need to go,” Anakin urges. Distantly, he can hear loud splashing. This is bad. The creature must be coming. “We have to leave now.”

“I can’t do that, sir,” he objects, though he takes a few steps closer.

They don’t have time to wait. If they don’t get out now, they won’t. And he doesn’t want to get Rex to the ship like this, but there’s no other choice. He picks him up with the Force, pulling him closer, setting him down lightly in the back, before he and Ahsoka Force-jump after – She obviously picked up on the same level of urgency.

The Gungans are snarling in noises Gungans shouldn’t even be able to make, starting towards them.

IT IS I, THE CUDDLE PILE ANON. OK OK I KNOW I SAID THAT WOLFFE WAS MY LAST REQUEST BUTTTTTTT I HAD 2 IDEAS AT LIKE 3 IN THE MORNING sooooo basically one about the 501st (+Ashoka) and how they’d comfort Rex when he’s down. And another one were the 501st (+Rex maybe anakin) comfort Ashoka when she’s down. THEY’RE SUCH GOOD BIG BROTHERS 😭 in return for these 2 ideas, I shall gift you with my love and weird quotes my friends have said: “all I wanted was a 10 piece McNugg, I got spiritual enlightenment” “I know I’m not the sharpest kid in the shed…wait” preferably separate fics pls (when it’s convenient for u, YOUR HEALTH COMES FIRST GO DRINK WATER YOU FABULOUS AUTHOR) hey that kinda rhymed ok I’m done 🙃

So sorry I'm late on the first prompt, but finally here we are!

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"Uh oh, someone messed up."

When Fives is the one to freeze in the middle of a conversation, that gains the attention of the scattered 501st troopers nearby. Said newly minted ARC had been in the middle of a rousing story when he noticed that one of the medics decided to join the rest of the "plebs" willingly.

And not only a medic, Kix was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed.

"Whatever it was, it wasn't me!" Kix raised an eyebrow as Fives lifted his hands, and gives an amused snort.

"For once it's not your fault. Any of you see Rex?"

"Avoiding you again?" Echo asked, looking up from the manuals he'd been idly reading. "Told him you were going to start getting angry."

"I'm past that, I told him I need to monitor his BSV recovery, and I can't do that if he insists on skirting the medbay. Now, since you all clearly don't have anything to do, I'm pulling rank and ordering you to hunt down Rex and bring him to me."

"But we just got our game going!" Hardcase cried in dismay, he and Dogma crouched over a board game they'd been gifted some time ago.

"Aw poor guy." Kix deadpanned, rolling his eyes. "Tell you what, the man who delivers Rex gets some of the treats Plo gave me."

"Seriously?" Hardcase finds the game suddenly not as important, even Dogma side-eyeing the medic along with the very quiet troopers around him.

Kix shook his head.

"The man who brings me Rex gets to have their own mini-stash."

The medic isn't sure he's seen any room empty so fast, shaking his head with a rare chuckle as he heads back to his beloved medbay. It's not the best look to send an entire battalion after their commanding officer, but at this point Kix was tired of the excuses and his concern for Rex's health was overriding his initial trepidation. The BSV and the lives it took in the bunker had sent a ripple of fear through quite a few men, not even able to bury their brothers who had to be burned to ensure no trace of the virus could remain. They were trained to fight against all sorts of enemies, but one that was naked to the eye and deadlier than any clanker was...uncomfortable to think about, and most medics didn't comment on an uptick of their fellow batchers reading up on viruses and how best to combat them. Kix didn't have too long before he received a message, gathering up his mobile kit before heading out and towards where Rex had been found.

"He's buried in his reports." Jesse had found Rex hiding in a communications room, and Kix just nods. "Want me to keep guard?"

"No, I have a task for you."

When the door to his current hideout opens, Rex wants to curse.

"So, are we done hiding?" There's a clunk on the console behind Rex as the medic's kit is set down, and the blonde just remains silent as he fills out another report. "I need you to look at me."

"I'm busy." The excuse falls flat, and Kix scoffs.

"Who isn't. Do I need to pull rank again, or will you let me do the bare minimum exam?"

"......."

Rex gives in after twenty minutes of silence, the captain grumbling under his breath as Kix descends on him. Despite not being pleased with Rex and his evasiveness, he takes care to keep most of Rex's attention him himself rather than his medical tools. Rex hadn't said it out loud, which to be fair he couldn't as to remain the face his men looked up to and trusted, but being subjected to more than a few nasty tests after being liberated from the BSV had not helped him recover from the fact he could have died without being able to save anyone, let alone himself. Medbay's hadn't been much to him before, but now Rex started going out of his way to catch Kix and the other medics outside of the room, reassuring them as always yet avoiding simple things like his recovery assessment.

"You have been recovering nicely." There's a very small slump of Rex's shoulders, but the medic says nothing as he packs up his kit. "I'll test the blood I took, but you're lucky."

"Like I've been saying, I feel fine." Kix raised an eyebrow, pausing to shoot the surprised commander a glare.

"Oh you are nowhere near fine, but I did promise to try and be nice right now. I order you to report to the barracks, you've been holing up away from everyone, and it shows."

"I have reports to fill out..." Rex winces at how weak his protest is, but doesn't get much of a chance to say more when the door opens once more to reveal Ahsoka. "Really?"

"Jesse says you can't ignore me asking you things." The togruta smiled, and Kix can see the tension visibly leaving Rex as the togruta crosses the small room with a smile.

"Jesse is a traitor." Rex grumbled, but Kix doesn't need to Force to see there was no malice in his words.

"Maybe, but he's right. You haven't seen come to our sabbac nights anymore, and not even Skyguy has seen you outside of shift. So, I'm asking you to come join us scrubs for the night!"

"I'm sorry scrubs?" Rex's eyebrows shot up as Kix failed to hide his snort of amusement, a small grin cracking his impassive face for the first time in ages. "Let me guess, Fives taught you that?"

"Mhm! Although judging by the two of you, it doesn't mean regular troops does it?" Ahsoka grumbled as Kix just barked out a laugh, Rex trembling in the effort to hold his own in. "I'm so getting back at him."

"As long as it doesn't involve personal injury, I'll help." Kix shook his head in amusement, watching Rex place his hand on Ahsoka's shoulder.

"I have a few ideas myself." He tries not to focus on the way the Jetti preens when he gets to his feet, shifting close to him as the trio head out and towards the barracks, listening to some of Rex's surprisingly good prank ideas to use later on.

No one kicks up a fuss when Rex finally joins them for the impromptu movie night Echo and Dogma had set up, just joking with him and laughing about the movie that was more a sound board than actually paid attention to. They all knew it was just background amusement, just happy to see their commander letting loose for the first time since the BSV and enjoying his men's company, leaving the bunker deep in his mind for another night.