Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ahsoka was having a pretty normal day.
She trained, ate a sandwich, stole an arm.
Yeah, normal.

It all began when she was approached by Jesse and Fives in the mess hall. Jesse looked exhausted and Fives was practically vibrating with excitement.
"Oh, hey guys!" she said after chewing some of her sandwich.
"Did you know-" Jesse started but Fives knudged him out the way.
"DID YOU KNOW THE GENERAL HAS A FAKE ARM!?"

Ahsoka stared, she didn't know this. When did he lose it?
"Okay, why do I need to know this?"
Fives looked eagerly at her.
"Me and Hardcase had an idea! What if you steal his arm!"

Oh my force that was brilliant! He would be so mad!!
"FIVES, YOU. ARE. A. GENIUS!!" Her. voice echoed in the almost empty hall, Echo most likely heard her say this because he walked over to the small group with a confused look. "When did Fives become a genius?" Voice tired from having to deal with his brother's antics.
"We are gonna steal Skyguy's arm!" the sandwich has become ignored now as they scheme. Echo sighed and sat down opposite her.
"
What's the plan then." Echo was joining in-
The man who loves rules and memorized the book was joining in.

"Okay so we get the Commander to grab it when he's sleeping cause he is usually exhausted after one of their meditation sessions, some weird force stuff." Fives talked faster than Obi Wan when lecturing her master.
"Okay, but do we actually know how to get it off?" Jesse chips in with a reasonable question.

The room went silent.
"I know how." Everyone jumped and turned to face the exit. It was Kix.

"There's a latch on it, you have to hit release on it. This is what happens when you have a reckless general." The last part was said with a sigh and Kix shaking his head like a tired parent. " happy speaking you crazy kids"Kix walked away, quieter than whence he came.

"So tonight is when we strike then?" Ahsoka asked, unfazed by Kid's contribution .
"Yes, show no mercy." Fives said .
The group then disbanded leaving Ahsoka with her half finished sandwich.

*Timeskip too meditation session ending cause I'm lazy*

The pair were sat together in the training room, eyes shut, focusing only on the force. Until they weren't and Anakin abruptly stood up.
"Okay Snips, I'm gonna go sleep now, night" Anakin really did sound exhausted. She almost felt bad for him but remembered that this is good. This is supposed to happen.
She waited on the floor until he left the room and was seemingly far away enough to com Hardcase.
"The victim has departed, I will follow and wait for him to sleep" The comlink beeped and Hardcase's voice came through.
"You got it Disarmer."
Disarmer eh? She liked that.

(Oh btw, I made the Jedi share rooms but not in a romantic way, in a 'ohmygodtheresnoroomfortheseidiotstheyneedfoshare' way)

'Sneaky like a snake' she thought fondly to herself .

Anakin was probably in his bed by now, happily sleeping the night away. Good.

The door whirred open and she crept in, knowing if he woke, she was not gonna get another shot until tomorrow.

Creeping around the small living area was easy at this point due to how many times she's crept in from other times where he passed out from meditation. His room was dark (obviously) but she managed. A small bed was in the corner of the room, Anakin was sleeping under several blankets. He got cold easily when not wearing his multiple layers of robes for some reason.

Still creeping, Ahsoka remembered to put up her force shields and moved towards the bed, noticing the slow breaths from her master, noting the bags under his eyes. Arm, right.

She crouched down to Anakin's level, his prosthetic was hung limply off the side of the bed which made her job easier. Just gotta find a release latch and... Viola! The metallic limb fell like deadweight into her hands, it hissed as it came off, her master stirring from his sleep. Oh kriff. She was stuck. It was like she was glued to the floor. Just stand up and-

RUN.

Anakin jolted awake, realising he had one less limb and small footsteps exiting his room speedily, he swiftly pulled on a cloak and ran straight to the thief. Tired and annoyed.

Ahsoka knew she had messed up but her legs guided her through the crowded halls of the Resolute. Everyone stopped to look at her as she ran past them, then Anakin, pissed off than ever, running past as well. She seemed insane, giggling maniacally with an arm in her hand. Passing A confused Obi Wan was funny.

She just rushed past, then Anakin was following. "Anakin, what happened..?" He shouted, following the two as well. "She took my arm!" Anakin shouted back, now getting faster and more infuriated. More and more clones were watching this scene play out with amusement written on their faces. Rex was actually recording this to show Cody how sane his General is compared to Rex's. Ahsoka stopped,

Anakin bumped into her and knocked her over. They both fell. She quickly recovered and took off, faster than ever before. But Anakin was not playing anymore. He needed caff and couldn't get that with one arm. One way or another he would catch her.

He ended up being forced to negotiate with his padawan over a comlink Fives gave him. "What if I gave you a day off training?" He pleaded, desperate at this point. "Fine." She relented and fell down on top of him from the ventilation system.
" Ow!" They both cried out in pain, Ahsoka gave the arm back, and now she was sat in her room reflecting on her actions.

Conclusion: it was worth it.

Chapter Text

Anakin was tired. It wasn't a sleepy tired, but the feeling of vertigo you get when you stand up too fast and your legs feel like jelly. That would grow to be a problem but he was busy today, endless meetings and then training Ahsoka. No time for sleep.

So when the the weight of running around all day fell onto him, it fell harder than expected. After a final strategy meeting he was on the brink of collapse. Streaming and exhausted, he carried his legs to the Mess Hall quickly to grab some Caff and a snack. 

Now his stomach churned which sucked a lot, it growled angrily at him and there was an insatiable itch in the back of his throat that caused him to cough every five seconds. Training, right. How fun. Hopefully Ahsoka will settle for meditation for today because at least he could fall asleep there and have an excuse.

The caff was slowly coursing its way through Anakin's body, it gave him jitters and unexpected bursts of energy (I've never had coffee so idk how to describe it).

Okay. Smehow he ended up in a hallway. That's alright, he probably mustve -

Kriff, that hurt more than his missing arm. His stomach was making twists and turns and not stopping. Everything was weird and blurry, he felt hot and then. Darkness, someone yelling his name and then the void. The void was nice.

The void. Dark, empty, silent. Even the force couldn't reach him here. And yet when Anakin looked down, he could see his reflection on the other side. It was broken and tired. Just like real life, his brain really nailed it with the realism. Why though? Why was he in the void again? 'This is a dream' he told himself and sat down on the non-existent floor. It was wet and reflective. Everything was glass.

Anakin just sat there in silence, a lonely existence in the emptiness of the void. The universe unfolding itself every millisecond. silver stars shimmering way behind him. It was simply beautiful.

But when there is light, there must be darkness as an echo of a scream filled the seemingly empty void. It sounded like-

Oh. Not that day. Just don't think about It. Think about... Droids!

Or maybe -

 "Nakin!" Anakin turned around, nobody. But someone had to have said his name. Right?

Yes. That Someone was Kix trying to do something. But it is warm in the void. and yet he found himself waking up.

 "Ah, General Skywalker, I was trying to get you to drink water as you threw up our attempts to feed you." What? Where was he? 

 Medbay. How exciting. Oh wow, the more exciting thing is the fact that he can't breathe through his nose and the taste of sick on his throat. Yummy. "I got it Kix" Anakin mumbled, his words slurring together and sounding like a frog who was sick. Reluctantly, he accepted the glass and slowly drank it with the help of Kix. He wished he could go back to the void where nobody could judge him for needing help to drink water. Except himself of course.

He wondered who brought him here but there was a haze in his brain so he simply just went back to sleep after rambling to Kix about the importance of Loth Cats to Lothal. Like a normal person.

Perhaps he can just. Stay there. For a little while at least. Until he feels better...

Chapter Text

It was after an extended period of time without conflict when the 'incident' occurred. What is the 'incident'? You may ask, well uh. Right.

Rex was having such a great day as well, they were doing the good ration bars today, he even got a new helmet and painted that! Why did it have to end up like this...

General Skywalker had gone to a meeting with the Chancellor (it was weird why that crusty old man liked the General so much, might be worth asking Fox about that later) and had left his lightsaber on a table. Where Hardcase sat opposite him.

Yeah Rex had no idea why Skywalker did that, he should take an IQ test or something because as soon as the Jedi left the room, Hardcase immediately grabbed the deactivate laser sword and stared.

 "Hardcase-" Rex started to say, inching away from the table he was sat at. Hardcase with a lightsaber would be like General Grievous with ADHD, the guy would be swinging faster than the droid leader could even say 'General Kenobi'.

 "Rex, I literally have a lightsaber" Hardcase seemed proud of this feat, as if it was going to make the war instantly end.

 At that point in time, Rex had been utterly terrified so he had commed Echo who brought along Fives.

So as soon as Hardcase ignited the saber the pair walked into the room with their mouths agape. Both in awe of the power Hardcase held against them. And yet, Fives thought it would be funny to bring out his blaster and shoot the saber. Obviously.

The blaster bolt was luckily a stun as it ricocheted off the deadly glow stick and into Rex's face. Ugh. The worst part was waking up to a concerned Kix, hovering over him whilst berating Fives and Hardcase.

 "But Kiiiiiixxx, what else was I supposed to doo???" Hardware dragged out, his voice whiny and if Rex squinted hard enough , he could make out a very ticked off face. Everything was a bit blurry due to just waking up.

 "I don't know Hardcase, maybe not steal a lightsaber and try to cut melons in half midair??" Fives giggled at that.

 How long was he out for?

 "Oh, Rex, you're awake, you alright?" Echo asked, probably the only sane one here. Emphasis on  probably as he did hang around Fives a lot. Rex nodded and sat up with the help of Kix, who had afterwards, moved into his next target.

Fives. 

When Rex said he knew curse words, he only meant a few. But kriff, he didn't know three quarters of what Kix said to Fives. 

He shuddered at the thought of being yelled at like that. Then noticed the carnage around him. The Mess Hall was certainly a mess now. 

 "Okay, what the kriff happened here??" Everyone turned, General Skywalker. Oh Lord..

 Everyone was silent other than a cough from Fives who then blushed and sat down on a seat. Rex mentally prepared himself for the lecture about not stealing a Jedi's stuff. But it never came. Weird. 

 "Here's your lightsaber back, we played fruit ninja with it." Hardcase whispered. Fives nudged his elbow, most likely trying to lie about it. 

Anakin just stared at them blankly, shrugged and left.

 "What the fuck." Rex exclaimed , he was in shock. And really. so was everyone else.

Chapter Text

Yanking out long locks of hair from his head was a painful experience. The Kaminoan in charge of his training had plucked every single one that wasn't short enough out as punishment for failing the battle simulation.

But then again.

He always messed up. He's supposed to know everything about everything so why can't he know when to shoot a damn droid!

At least. That's what Nala Se said to him. What if he believed it? What if he just let them do anything. It's not like he's useful or anything, is it?

So at once he stopped caring. His mind was blank for the first time in his life and the burning on his wrists were just a background pain, nothing he couldn't handle. 

 "CT-9904, stand up." Tech shuffled to move slowly, his arms a heavy weight at his sides. The floor was looking clean today. Maybe the cleaner's work won't be in vain and the blood stains will only drip down during tomorrow's session.

 "You failed the simulation again, if you fail again tomorrow we may have you decommissioned."

 wait what.

Nonononono. She's lying. That's a lie. He couldn't be decommissioned. Noo, obviously not. She's lying, she is.

Where are they going, oh, right. Back to their room. What was he going to say to them?? Oh force he really kriffed up this time.

Now they were at the entrance to the shared barracks (when had they gotten there??)

 "Goodnight. Trooper"

 Now Tech was standing in the doorway to the barracks, not daring to say a single word, acting unlike he usually does. Nobody will know. 'Just walk in and hide under blanket' Okay, breathe, breathe. Why is that so difficult? 

 'he's going to get decommissioned'

The door whirred open and he was greeted by Wrecker who offered to annoy Crosshair with him but Tech didn't reply and just flopped down onto his bed and threw a pillow over his head.

Too loud.

Go away.

It was just a few experiments, they were to make him better. so then he can't be-

A small whine escaped Tech's mouth

Hopefully nobody noticed his state.

Hopefully he was better.

what if he wasn't...

No, improvement takes time, he can't just do better!

He knows this, everyone knows this. So why is he still crying and flapping his hands up and down, essentially punching the pillow. He should just shut up and get the job done. It's no use talking when they don't want to listen. He can't even talk right now. Let alone breathe!

Wait why was there someone on his bed, get off. Get off.

 "Tech'ika, it's okay" Hunter whispered to him.

Tech had entered the room distraught and it caught Hunter off guard. Usually after training, Tech would infodump about a new project or a cool fact. That routine was disrupted, perhaps if was the long necks? They were never in a rush to  warm up to Tech or Crosshair, they had a relationship almost bordering hatred.

'Wait is it a meltdown or something?' Hunter thought, it probably was one and he wouldn't appreciate the touch. But the headphones. Right.

 "Can someone grab the headphones?" Wrecker shuffles over to a drawer, grabs them, and hands then to Hunter who coaxed Tech out from under the pillow with soft reassurances. Tech looked terrible so Hunter gently lowered the noise cancelling headphones onto his younger brother's face.

Everything wasn't okay here, even if the long necks say it is, they have this experience and so many others where the squad has been basically abused. For being themselves.

At least they weren't there anymore.

Chapter Text

Scoff, Anakin was the Hero with No Fear, he could handle Zygerria and a bunch of slaver scum.

Anakin regretted saying this to himself previously as he really, could not handle himself and was in fact, not enjoying the unpleasant memories this experience brought him. It was to the least, annoying. If not, traumatising. Tatooine was 10x worse yet he couldn't handle a few slaver scum? Pathetic. Ahsoka looks up to him (probably) so he should be a better example.

The mission was over but it still hurt. Rex and Obi-Wan were still recovering from Kadavo and Ahsoka was clearly terrified out her mind. 

"Hey Snips, you alright there?" He asked, already knowing the answer. She just glumly shook her head in response. What did those animals do to her??

"C'mon then, let's get you out of these clothes" He spoke in a gentle voice to avoid startling her any further and led her to their quarters where she retreated to her room. Not a word spoken between either of them.

Anakin just sat in his room silently stewing over everything. The Queen. Her death. Good riddance. His injuries. Kriff his neck, that kinda hurt. Maybe from the electrocution. People really loved to electrocute him in this war and it is quite concerning. 

Red. His robes around his neck were red and dripping with blood from the exposed wound which most likely opened from a run in with Dooku, old geezer. That certainly wasn't... Ideal. Not a problem! He could deal with it!

He couldn't deal with it, it itched like hell and he found himself raising a hand to scratch it multiple times like a moron. Kix wouldn't be very happy with this. What if he just, touched it gently. Not even scratching it, just making sure there wasn't too much damage. Not his smartest idea but still somewhat a solution. Besides, he would just die alone if there was so much bleeding which wouldn't be too bad. Maybe.

Raising his flesh hand to touch it, a flare of pain overcame him as he screamed in agony and hit his neck which was literally the dumbest thing he had ever done, causing him to pass out. yippee?

Needless to say, the void was a nice change of pace. He could fly around and have tea parties with the force and those usually ended without the force arriving and him eating cakes by himself. Sad. He wondered when he would die. If someone found him bleeding out on the floor from his neck. Wait a second, isn't that near where his transmitter chip is?? Maybe someone would find that and be like 'The hell is this?'

Waking up was a tedious process which involved opening ones eyes which Anakin forgot he had. So he didn't, instead listening to the voices of people over him. Was he dead? If so, why was death so comfortable and tiring? And painful, damn...

"Wait what's thi-" Someone spoke, obviously shocked. 

He didn't feel dead, he felt...

"OW!" His eyes flung open, pricking with tears. Clones jumped back in surprise, tools flying into the air and falling to the ground with a clang. That wasn't it, it hurt. Hurt hurt hurt. Why was it bright? 

"Goddamn it I didn't die." He mumbled under his breath, nobody heard him and a tiny object could be seen in Kix's hand. It resembled a sla-

What.. They got it out. They got it out. Oh force they did it. Freedom.

His eyes slipped closed after someone pumped anaesthetic into his body again. It was... Acceptable. They freed him was his last thought before he slipped into a deep slumber.

"General Skywalker?" Who said that?

"He's waking up, I'll stay with him." Another said.

What? Oh, his eyes were opening. New ability unlocked!

"Hey... Kix?" It was Kix who said he'd stay. Weird. But he is the head medic and used to this. But it was bright. Bright. Ew his neck felt gross. 

A shaky hand raised to touch it again but was gently moved away by Kix. "Sir, you shouldn't be doing that. Unless you want to irritate the wound anymore that is" He smiled weakly and everything felt numb.

"Does anything hurt?" Kix seemed genuinely concerned for some reason. He whispered a small 'no' and felt his eyes shut for a second longer than they should normally. 

"Good." Anakin hoped that was all Kix had to say as the slave chip was not something he wanted to talk about.

"Why was there a chip in your neck?" Oh force he asked the one thing he didn't want to answer. "It's my slave chip" He murmured quietly. Kix's eyes widened, "from the mission sir?" 

Anakin wanted to say yes, he really did. He wanted to forget Tatooine forever and never go back. "no" is all he could spit out.

"Oh."

"Is it still armed?" Anakin already knew the answer. Yes, it was still armed. Qui-Gon never disarmed it before he died and never told anyone. He just let it be. He just allowed a kriffing BOMB to stay in his neck, ready to activate at any time.

"Yes. I'm sorry we didn't know." He was apologizing for something that wasn't his fault. "Why?"

"We never noticed before."

They care. Everyone cares. They just didn't know. Maybe he should say something. But the silence sounded so nice. So he kept quiet. Ahsoka would be fine, as would Obi-Wan and Rex. Now he was free like them. 

Wait were the clones even free??