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Chapter Text

Fives and Jesse were about to be executed, and Rex wouldn’t stand by and watch. Those were his men. So, he stopped the execution.

“What is the meaning of this?” Krell boomed, “Kill them, that’s an order!”

“Don’t do it!” Rex yelled.

“And just what do you think you’re doing, clone?” Krell yelled.

“Don’t kill them, I can stop this from happening again, Sir,” Rex told him.

“You expect me to let them go on your word?!” Krell laughed.

“If you won’t trust me, what can I do to make you stop this?” Rex asked, choosing his words carefully.

Krell seemed to think about it for a moment before he spoke.

“Get on your knees.”

“Sir?” He questioned, shocked at the command.

“Do you want to help your brothers or not?!”  Krell yelled.

It only took a short glance at Fives and Jesse for Rex to comply. He lowered himself to his knees as his men watched. He kept his head up, but he looked only at Krell. He wasn’t sure he wanted to see the shock and pity in the eyes of his brothers.

“Take off your helmet,” Krell commanded.

Hesitantly, Rex removed his bucket and set it down beside him.

Krell approached him with a menacing grin, and kicked his bucket halfway across the floor “So, their lives are worth more than your dignity, are they?”

Rex looked him in the eye, though his face burned with humiliation, “Yes, they are.”

“Would you do anything for them?” He questioned.

Rex hesitated, scared of what Krell meant by anything.

“Yes, sir,” he replied, “Anything.”

“Alright then. I’ll call the execution off. And you’ll meet me in the debriefing room, CT-7567.”

Chapter Text

Rex paced across the debriefing room. He wasn’t sure what Krell wanted, but this whole thing made him uneasy.

“CT-7567,” Krell stood in the doorway very suddenly, “I have called off the execution. Your brothers will not be harmed.”

Rex swallowed his pride, “Thank you, Sir.”

Krell scoffed. Then, he opened a small closet and pulled out a set of handcuffs.

“Sit,” Krell commanded, pointing at a chair by the conference table.

Rex, reluctantly, obeyed. When Krell walked towards him, Rex knew what came next. He allowed Krell to tighten the cuffs around his wrists, not wanting to give him reason to hurt another clone.

As Krell started fiddling with a comm, he told Rex, “You’ll stay quiet if you know what’s good for you.”

And again, he obeyed. He stayed quiet as he watched the General talk to Count Dooku. He stayed silent as Krell bargained with Dooku. As he told the Sith about his “high ranking hostage.”

He was quiet as Dooku said he’d take the hostage. As he agreed to send a covert ship to pick the hostage up. As they discussed interrogation techniques.

When the call ended, Krell turned back to Rex.

“I think you know where you’re going, clone,” Krell spat, “And you’ll do well to remember:  one step out of line, and I’ll have one of your brothers killed.”

“Yes, sir,” he said mechanically.

Thankfully, Krell walked away, leaving Rex alone. Not long after, Rex got a comm from Fives.

Fives: Are you okay??? What does Krell want?

Rex: I can’t talk to you about it, but right now I’m okay.

Fives: Right now? What does that mean?! If he’s going to hurt you I’ll come up there and kill him

Rex: Stay where you are, follow orders, and wait for General Skywalker to get back.

Fives: No, you have to be okay!! No man left behind

Rex: Not this time, Fives.

Fives: No Rex

Fives: None of us are gonna do that

Fives: What’s Krell doing??

Fives: Rex, u still there?

Fives: Rex?

“He stopped responding,” Fives said worriedly.

“Keep trying!” Jesse told him, adjusting Rex’s bucket under his arm.

“I am, but it’s been almost ten minutes,” Fives said, “Either Krell’s got his comm or he’s just ignoring me.”

“Better stop,” Kix said, “If Krell’s got his comm, messages like that could get Rex in worse trouble than he’s already in.”

Anxiously, Fives put his comm away.

“Can’t believe he really did that,” Jesse mumbled.

“Of course he did that!” Kix scolded, “Do you honestly think stepping back and letting the two of you die was an option for him. Kriff, do you know why he put me of all people on the firing squad? ‘Cause he knew I wouldn’t shoot, and neither would anyone else.”

After a beat of silence, Fives’s face lit up with an idea, “Comm General Skywalker! He’ll do something.”

Kix nodded, “Do it. Krell crossed a line. He’ll be angry.”

Chapter Text

Anakin had been pulled into meeting after meeting, all the while worried about his men. So, when Fives commed him, he immediately excused himself to answer it.

“General Skywalker,” Fives greeted as the holo crackled to life, “A few of us on Umbara thought you might want an update.”

Anakin sighed with relief. For a moment, he’d thought something was wrong.

“An update really isn’t necessary, report to General Krell,” he said.

“The update is in regard to General Krell,” Fives said darkly.

Anakin took back his relief. Something was wrong.

“What’s wrong?” he demanded.

“General Krell tried to have Jesse and I executed,” Fives began.

Anakin’s blood ran cold, his only comfort being that Fives was comming him now, alive.

“Rex stepped in to stop the execution, and Krell agreed,” Fives paused, “But I think he wants something in return, I don’t know what it is, and I can’t get into contact with Rex-“

“Fives, breath,” Anakin reminded him. Fives’s “update” had devolved into a panicked recount of the day in record time.

“Tell me exactly what happened when Rex stepped in,” Anakin told him carefully.

“Rex asked what he could do to make Krell stop,” Fives began, “And Krell told him to get on his knees.”

Even more alarm bells started to go off in Anakin’s head, but he didn’t interrupt.

“Krell asked-“ Fives paused to take a deep breath, “He asked if Rex would do anything to keep us safe, and Rex said he would. So, Krell called off the execution and told Rex to meet him in the debriefing room. Jesse and I were released, and Krell left just after Rex. We know that Krell left the debriefing room twenty minutes ago, and that was when we started sending messages to Rex. I’ll send you the messages, but he didn’t really say anything. And he stopped responding about ten minutes ago.”

Anakin gave a hurried nod, deeply alarmed, “Thank you, Fives. I’ll see what I can do.”

He hung up without waiting for a response, and commed Rex immediately. Rex’s voice came through, but no holo accompanied it.

“Rex! Are you alright?” Anakin asked hurriedly.

There was a beat of silence before Rex answered, uncharacteristically slow, “I’m just fine, Anakin, why do you ask?”

Anakin paused. Rex was too much of a stickler to call him by his first name. The most casual he ever got was ‘Skywalker’. If Anakin thought about it, the only time Rex had called him by his first name was when Ventress was controlling him.

“Just checking in,” Anakin said carefully, “I’ll be waiting for a report on the campaign.”

“You’ll get a report soon, Anakin.”

There it was again.

“Thank you, Captain, that’ll be all.”

Rex ended the call.

Anakin didn’t hesitate after that. He left a message for Obi-wan, explaining the situation, pulled his padawan away from her classes, and hopped in the first rust bucket of a ship he saw.

“You really think General Krell is a traitor?” Ahsoka asked as Anakin got the ship into hyperspace.

“No other explanation,” he said simply, pushing the ship as fast as it would go.

Chapter Text

Krell got Rex off of Umbara quickly and quietly. It wasn’t long after Fives and Jesse’s almost-execution that Rex found himself strapped to a chair, being interrogated by Count Dooku himself.

“Skywalker has proved to be quite the opponent,” Dooku began, “His strategic intelligence is very nearly outmatched, perhaps only because of his blatant disregard for his own safety.”

Rex huffed. Dooku glared at him, but continued.

“Regardless of how or why Skywalker has become the adversary that he is, you know his plans, Captain.”

At least Dooku was more respectful than Krell.

“You will tell me each and every one of Skywalker’s strategies, or I will extract them from your mind myself.”

“I’m not telling you anything,” Rex said bluntly.

“Fine, then, Captain,” Dooku sighed, “I suppose we’ll do this the hard way.”

The moment Dooku stretched out his fingers, Rex felt something crack against the barriers of his mind. Suddenly he understood what the Jedi meant when they talked about shields. He could feel Dooku searching through his mind, digging through every crevice. He just wanted that feeling to go. He wanted Dooku out. Out. Out! OUT!

“Oh? Resisting a mind probe is quite impressive for someone who isn’t a Jedi,” Dooku said, “But, rest assured, I will get inside your mind.”

No he wouldn’t. Rex wasn’t entirely sure how he resisted it. Dooku didn’t seem sure either. Hours passed, and the Sith attacked Rex’s mind. But, somehow, he rammed into wall after wall after wall.

Dooku slammed his hand against the wall, “If I can’t find what I need, I’ll just make you talk another way.”

As he spoke, a droid entered the room with a tray full of tools and syringes.

“A bit uncivilized, I must say,” Dooku said as he picked up a syringe, “But it works all the same.”

Dooku jammed the syringe into Rex’s neck, depositing kark-knows-what into his bloodstream. Then, he flicked a switch on the wall, and Rex’s body tensed up, seizing and burning.

“Tell me Skywalker’s battle strategies,” Dooku commanded.

Still shaking a bit from the electrical shock, Rex scowled at him.

Silently, he used the force to grab hold of Rex’s left hand.

“Tell me Skywalker’s battle strategies.”

“Go drink bantha piss, you stuck up, seppie, nerf-herder”

Crack!!

Without a moment’s hesitation, Dooku broke on of Rex’s fingers. The Sith continued to demand answers, threatening to break more fingers. After an hour or so, Dooku hand broken four of Rex’s fingers with no results.

Dooku found more and more ways to punish him when he didn’t answer, Rex found more and more insults, and slowly became more and more injured. The syringe seemed to weaken his mind a bit, making it easier for Dooku to get in. And he tried every day. Rex was beginning to understand a lot of the stuff jedi talked about.  Thankfully for Rex, Dooku knew when he’d been beaten. After a few weeks of on and off interrogation, he gave up.

“I don’t know how you’ve resisted pain and the power of the force alike, but I suppose you deserve applause, Captain,” Dooku said honestly, “Of course, I can’t just let you go, either.”

Chapter Text

Anakin was too late. Pong Krell had caused the deaths of hundreds of clones, Dogma had killed him for it, and Rex was nowhere to be found. The 501^st searched the whole area, but it quickly became apparent that Rex was not on Umbara. Soon enough, the 501^st was called away for a new mission, and they were forced to leave the shadow world without their captain.

While the entire incident had been reported to the council, Anakin knew they weren’t looking for Rex. So, he took matters into his own hands.

“Anakin, you need to rest,” Obi-wan insisted, “What are you even trying to prove with this?”

“I’m trying to find my Captain,” Anakin insisted, “He’s my Captain, I have to help him. And listen, Obi-wan. Krell was working with separatists, right? So, he probably handed Rex over to them. Once they got what they wanted in interrogation, they’d treat him like any other prisoner. We just need to figure out which prison he’s in!”

“If they were trying to get information out of him, why haven’t we seen it put into practice?” Obi-wan asked.

“Because Rex would’ve taken longer to interrogate! You know he’s resisted Sith mind control just a bit before! Remember Ventress?” Anakin explained, “Being able to control anything you say when a Sith is in your head is hard enough. If he can do that, he can hold out in interrogation long enough for them to not have our battle strategies yet. Between that and the very real possibility that they’re waiting until the right time to use our own strategies against us, they might not be put into use for another week! Which means they tried to get information out of Rex, and he would have very recently been sent to a separatist prison camp!”

“And you got all that… because he said your first name when you checked in on him?”

“Yes!” Anakin exclaimed.

“Anakin,” Obi-wan said in his parental worry tone, “I want to believe that Rex is alive as much as you do, but you must know you’re grasping at straws.”

“Straws that still exist!” Anakin retorted.

“That’s not what I meant, Anakin. Somewhere in your exhausted mind you know that.”

“I’m telling you, Obi-wan, I’m on to something here! I’ve got the locations of all the prisons we know about, and there’s one in the same system as Umbara that-“

“Anakin! You cannot just go charging into a separatist base without even knowing for sure if Rex is there,” Obi-wan told his sleep-deprived former padawan, “I know I can’t talk you out of this, so I will help you.”

Anakin’s face lit up, but Obi-wan continued, “I will help you if, and only if, you get some sleep now and start thinking about this like any other mission. You are not to do anything rash, am I understood?”

Anakin sighed, but knew Obi-wan was right, “Fine.”

“Come now,” Obi-wan took his arm and led him to bed.

Anakin allowed Obi-wan to guide him a bit, and then welcomed the sleep suggestion he offered, allowing the wave of calm and weariness to take over. He slept soundly through the night. When he finally awoke, well rested for the first time since his captain’s disappearance, Obi-wan had already begun formulating a plan.

“So, we know that Rex is likely in the closest prison to Umbara,” Obi-wan began, “As it appears you figured out earlier…”

Obi-wan glanced at the map that Anakin had marked up until he circled the closest possible base, then continued “It’s impossible for there to be one any closer than the labor camp on New Apsolon, so that’s our best bet.”

“Right,” Anakin nodded, “We can take them by surprise and storm the place.”

“Not storm,” Obi-wan corrected, “This isn’t an official mission, so it will only be the two of us attacking. That’s not nearly enough for a storm.”

“Well, what do you suggest?” Anakin asked with a touch of sarcasm.

“We can infiltrate them,” Obi-wan said, “One of us will be a separatist bounty hunter, the other a prisoner. We’ll be allowed into the camp, then we’ll find Rex and get out fast.”

Anakin nodded, “Good plan, but who’s the prisoner?”

“You, of course,” Obi-wan smiled, “The more charismatic one of us should be doing the talking.”

“I’m always the prisoner!” Anakin protested.

“Maybe you can be the bounty hunter when you’re a Jedi master,” Obi-wan teased.

The pair bickered all the while ask they walked to Anakin’s modified bucket of bolts, with Obi-wan eventually coming out as the victor. Of course, when they were nearly there, they had the unfortunate luck to run into Anakin’s padawan.

“Where are you two going without me?” Ahsoka demanded.

Anakin glanced around to be sure no one was listening before he told her, “We’re going to find Rex, without… explicit permission from the council, and you’re. not. coming. It’s too dangerous.”

Ahsoka’s face lit up at the simple mention of Rex, “You know where he is?”

“Most likely,” Obi-wan replied with confidence.

Ahsoka glanced at her master, face filled with worry, “Let me come with. I can help!”

“No, Ahsoka,” he told her sternly, “This is too dangerous.”

“All the more reason you should accept extra help!”

Obi-wan glance at Anakin, “She’s got a point there.”

“Don’t take her side!”

“I’m only saying we could use an extra hand,” Obi-wan said, “And she’d be easy to add to the ruse. Perhaps a pair of bounty hunters brought in a prisoner?”

Anakin sighed, “Alright, but you stay close to me, got it, Snips?”

“Got it, Skyguy,” she grinned.

Chapter Text

It didn’t take long to get to New Apsolon. Within a few hours, they landed just far enough away from the labor camp to not be seen. Getting in proved to be simple as well.

“Woah! What are you three doing here?” A battle droid asked.

“I am Cullen Rennix, and this is my protégé,” Obi-wan waved a hand at Ahsoka.

“Innis Flux,” she introduced herself confidently, “We’re here for a bounty.”

“Yes, as she says, we captured the wanted Republic spy, Bowie Ender,” Obi-wan pushed Anakin forward a bit.

“Uhhh, I need to check with the warden before I let anyone in,” the droid said.

“The warden already approved this, he’s been awaiting our arrival,” Obi-wan insisted, “And if you don’t let us in now, we’ll take our business elsewhere. Someone else can have the glory of capturing a spy.”

“Well, if the warden already approved it, you can come in,” the droid said, “Just leave your weapons on that table.”

Obi-wan and Ahsoka laid the blasters they’d brought to make their covers convincing on the table the droid pointed at.

“You there!” The droid called to a second droid, “Go tell the warden the bounty hunters he’s been waiting for are here.”

“Roger roger.”

“Wait here for the warden,” the first droid told them before heading back to its guard post.

Once they were left alone, the Jedi walked straight into the prison with the practiced confidence of liars. Battle droids weren’t smart enough to stop someone, so long as they appeared to belong. So, all one had to do to avoid them was pretend they were exactly where they were supposed to be.

As they walked through the camp, each of the trio began to hope Anakin had been wrong, and the clone captain wasn’t really there. Droids wielded electro whips, mercilessly slashing the backs of the prisoners as they worked on machines, and droids, and weapons. The people there seemed to be a horrible combination of starving, thirsty, exhausted, and dirty.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t find Rex quickly, so their snooping began to catch the attention of the droids.

“Hey! What are you doing wandering around here?!” A droid yelled.

“Ah, well, we were just here for-“ Obi-wan was cut off by the booming voice of the prison warden.

“Jedi!” He yelled.

The droids drew their blasters and repeated the word ‘Jedi’ as they surrounded the trio.

“What now?” Ahsoka asked.

“Fight our way out,” Anakin told her, drawing his lightsaber.

Fighting the droids, as usual, wasn’t much of a problem. The warden himself, however, some separatist commander, was a challenge. He sent wave upon wave of droids before he went to fight them himself. While three Jedi against one commander was hardly a gamble, he still put up a fight. As the three overwhelmed him, he withdrew. Backing away, he searched through the prisoners for a moment, eventually choosing one, and putting a blaster to his head.

“Is this… thing what you’re looking for?” He asked, “Your captured clone?”

There, struggling in the warden’s grasp, was Rex. He was coated in a thick layer of blood and dirt, bruised almost everywhere, and struggling to even stand. He didn’t seem to realize what was happening, clearly in a bit of a haze. He looked pale, too, and sweaty.

“Let him go, and this might not end badly for you,” Anakin threatened.

“Put down your weapons, or I’ll shoot,” the warden retorted.

Anakin turned off his lightsaber and began to lower it to the ground. But, just before he did, he used the force to fling the warden across the camp, far away from Rex, who promptly fell to the ground. The warden landed with a crash, and the faces of the prisoners began to fill with joy.

“Snips, go check on Rex, Obi-wan and I will take care of the warden.”

Ahsoka gave a stiff nod and jogged over to Rex.

“Rex, are you okay?” she asked worriedly as she knelt next to him.

Suddenly, he grabbed her wrist tightly. Looking up, he stared at her with shocked eyes.

“Ahsoka,“ he rasped, “Krell. He’s a Sith-“

“I know, he’s gone,” she said calmly.

“He’s with the 501^st,” he struggled out.

“Krell’s dead, Dogma killed him,” Ahsoka explained gently.

Rex stared straight ahead for a moment, then looked at her wide eyed yet again, “Krell, he’s a Sith. He’s going to hurt the 501^st.”

“Rex,” Ahsoka carefully took her hand from his grip, “Are you okay?”

He started trying to get up, but cried out in pain and fell back to the ground. It was then that Ahsoka realized he was breathing far too heavily, and looked like he was about to be sick. If Ahsoka had to guess, he had an infection.

“Rex, can you stay still for a minute?” Ahsoka asked quietly.

He nodded, but quickly tried to move again. Ahsoka simply pushed him back down and began to turn his head to search for injuries. Gently, she lifted his head off the ground, searching for blood, or bruising, but couldn’t find any. When she allowed him to lay his head back down, he tried to get up a third time, only to be met with more pain.

“Rex, I’m going to give you a sleep suggestion,” Ahsoka warned.

She didn’t want him to be in any more pain, and he seemed too confused to be cooperative when they had to bring him back to Coruscant, so a sleep suggestion seemed best. Unfortunately, he rejected it. Impressive, in his state.

“Rex, I don’t want you to be in any more pain, and moving is going to be really hard, this is for the best,” Ahsoka insisted, pushing more weariness and calm into his mind. But, yet again, she hit a wall.

Ahsoka began to push deeper into his mind, searching for a way to calm him. But she just found cracked and dented walls. Of course, that was when Ahsoka realized what was happening.

“Rex, please, just let me help you,” she said softly, giving him another, more powerful, suggestion.

Again, she found herself pushing against badly damaged walls, felt Rex’s rejection of her presence. Ahsoka quietly commed Anakin, telling him to find her and Rex.

Seeing Rex’s clear struggles, she tried again, only to be met with an even harsher rejection.

“Rex, I can help you,” she cried, as she pushed him back down to the ground, his growing panic evident, “Just stop fighting me, please!”

She kept pushing waves of calm, standing firm against his rejections. She began to feel the presence of a deep fear, fear of someone else in Rex’s mind.

“Ahsoka!” Anakin called, running over, “What’s wrong?”

“Whatever mind probe Rex went through did a number on him,” Ahsoka explained, “He’s confused, and injured, and resisting every sleep suggestion I give him.”

Anakin knelt down and shook the clone, “Rex, do you know where you are?”

“General?” He mumbled, not answering the question.

“Rex, where do you think you are?” Anakin asked slowly and firmly.

Rex looked at him, confused for a moment before he answered, “Umbara.”

“No, we’re on New Apsolon,” Anakin said, “Do you remember how you got here?”

Rex paused a minute, then said quietly, “501^st is on Umbara.”

Anakin frowned, “They left Umbara a while ago.”

“With Krell,” Rex mumbled.

“I’ve told him Krell’s dead, he just doesn’t understand it,” Ahsoka explained.

Anakin sighed, “I’ll try a sleep suggestion myself, there’s no way he can keep resisting it.”

Anakin took a deep breath before pushing a strong sleep suggestion towards his captain. He felt the same cracked walls Ahsoka did, and the same rejection and fear of his presence. But, nonetheless, he kept pushing. Rather than trying to break Rex’s walls down, he calmly moved around them, searching for an entrance, waiting for Rex to let him in.

“Ahsoka, can you give me a hand? Just keep him calm,” Anakin instructed.

Ahsoka nodded and joined Anakin sending waves of calm to the clone. Though it took a few minutes, the Jedi got him to sleep.

“Dooku must’ve been angry,” Anakin grinned, “Rex clearly resisted the mind probe for a while. Anyone resisting Dooku makes him mad, but a non-Jedi? He’s probably furious.”

“The council will want to know what information Dooku got, there’s no way he resisted it forever,” Ahsoka sighed.

“And they can wait until he’s cognizant enough to understand them,” Anakin said.

Suddenly, the sound of blaster’s rang out, and Anakin’s comm spurted to life with a holo of Obi-wan.

“Anakin, I need you at the entrance, the warden called for reinforcements,” Obi-wan yelled.

“How bad is it?” Anakin asked.

“Nothing we haven’t handled before,” Obi-wan said, “We just need to keep them away from the prisoners.”

“I’ll be right there,” Anakin said, closing his comm, “Ahsoka, Rex shouldn’t wait for medical attention, he’s hurt too badly. I need you to get him to the ship. Can you do that?”

“Yes, Master,” Ahsoka said, and Anakin ran off.

Thankfully, Ahsoka could use the force to help her pick up something heavy. Unfortunately, she hadn’t ever tried picking up a person. But, no time like the present. So, she carefully walked herself through the steps, hoisting him up on her shoulders.

Even with the force… he was heavy. But, she knew he couldn’t wait much longer for medical care; infections could get worse at a rapid pace. So, Ahsoka began to walk. She wasn’t quick, given Rex’s weight on her shoulders, but she wasn’t slow either. There seemed to be a back exit in the camp, so she pushed the door open with the force and slipped out. She could still hear blaster fire, so she ducked into the forest behind the prison and started towards the ship from there. If she stayed in the woods it would take longer to get to the ship, but not as long as if she were shot.

She was thankful Rex was unconscious. Ahsoka knew she wouldn’t have been able to carry him if he was still struggling like he had been at the camp. But, that didn’t mean Rex’s dead weight was easy to carry.

Ahsoka had stayed at the edge of the forest, away from blaster fire, but apparently that wasn’t enough. She felt a shooting pain in her chest and dropped to the ground. She hastily pulled both herself and Rex behind a tree before checking for an injury. A low power blaster bolt had gone through the side of her left ribs, near the bottom. She was lucky. If she had to guess, given the damage, it had already been deflected by Obi-wan or Anakin. She huffed. Of course the weren’t looking where they were deflecting (though she was guilty of that too).

She glanced at Rex, worried by his labored breathing.

“You’re gonna owe me big time for this one, Rexter,” she joked, pulling him back onto her shoulders, despite the pain, “We’re talking Dex’s for weeks.”

Slowly, painfully, she moved forward. It took almost all her concentration not to cry out in pain, but still she moved forward.

Eventually, she made it to the ship, well before Anakin and Obi-wan, likely still dealing with the number of prisoners they’d just freed. Ahsoka let out a sigh of relief when she dropped Rex on a bunk. She left quickly to find bandages and bacta patches, cleaning her injury and applying bacta before wrapping it. Then, she went back to Rex, first aid kit in hand. She felt his forehead carefully, frowning. He was burning up. She pulled a thermometer out and held it to his forehead. It beeped. 103 degrees Fahrenheit. She moved away for a moment to retrieve a wet cloth, folding it and pressing it against Rex’s head, in hopes his fever would go down. Ahsoka knew he had to be injured, but she didn’t see anything on his face aside from some bruises. So, piece by piece, she removed his armor.

She laid each piece next to the bunk with the same care she’d always seen Rex treat it with. Once he was only in his blacks, she peeled off his shirt. As she cautiously did not gawk at her friend’s abs, she scanned for injuries. It looked like he’d been injured before being healed with bacta, then injured again and healed again several times over. Looking over then new scars, she could see that multiple were infected, and a few of his fingers and ribs hadn’t been set right. She sighed. Bacta wasn’t magic. You still had to clean injuries and set bones. Then there was the matter of the electro whips. His marred back had not been healed at all. She’d have to patch him up.

The infections, of course, had become severe after so long without proper treatment. She searched through the kit she’d grabbed for antibiotics, finding them quickly. Since it was an emergency kit, meant for field work, it only had antibiotic shots, nothing that had to be swallowed. Ahsoka was very grateful for that, as Rex was out cold.

After injecting the antibiotic, she took the cool cloth off of Rex’s head and  turned him over, grimacing at the sight of the whip lashes. After getting a new cloth and soaking it in cool water, she began to clean Rex’s back. She dabbed carefully around the lashes, scared of being too rough.

“Snips! You here?” Anakin called from the entrance of the ship.

Ahsoka gave a sigh of relief, “Yes, Master, I’m up here!”

“Good! You get here okay?” he asked as he approached Ahsoka.

“More or less…” Ahsoka said, “Someone wasn’t looking where he was deflecting.”

“Were you shot?!” Obi-wan exclaimed.

“Only a little!” she argued.

Anakin pushed his old master aside and asked his padawan calmly, “Have you treated it?”

“Yes, I cleaned it, applied bacta, and wrapped it,” she replied.

“Good,” he nodded, “Go lie down, I’ll take care of Rex.”

“You should know, he’s got a lot of wounds that didn’t heal right,” Ahsoka said, “And I’ve already given him an antibiotic.”

“Alright,” he said, leading her to one of the bunks, “Get some rest, Snips.”

When she got under the blankets, she realized just how tired she was. She fell asleep in less than a minute. When the ship left hyperspace, she woke up. Anakin was landing the ship at the temple, and Obi-wan was by Rex’s bedside.

“Good morning,” Obi-wan said jokingly when he saw Ahsoka.

She snorted, then looked at the clone captain Obi-wan had been watching over.

“How’s he doing?” she asked.

“Not well, I’m afraid,” Obi-wan answered grimly, “His fever has only gone up.”

Ahsoka felt the soft thud of the ship landing and sighed in relief. Hopefully healers could do more than the quick patch up she’d given Rex. Anakin walked in from the cockpit, clearly in a rush. Without a word, he scooped his Captain up in his arms.

“I already commed medical,” Anakin said as he stepped off the ship, “They’ll meet us here soon.”

Unfortunately, it was Mace Windu that met them outside.

“What did the three- four? Skywalker! What did you do?!” While Mace had gotten confused upon seeing Rex, he maintained his anger.

“Liberated a prison and got my Captain back,” Anakin said bluntly.

“You attacked a separatist base on your own for one clone?” Mace yelled.

Anakin was about to retort, but Obi-wan interrupted, “You can finish yelling at us later, Master Windu. Right now, Captain Rex needs to get to a healer.”

Windu’s face softened from anger to worry when he saw the state of the clone in Anakin’s arms, “Have you commed medical?”

“We have, they should be here any moment now,” Obi-wan replied.

Windu nodded, “I’ll meet the three of you in the council chambers after they take him.”

As promised, a medical team came to pick Rex up with the speed only found in a panicked and angry Kix.

“Of all the stupid things the captain has done, offering himself up like that might be the worst!” Kix complained as he helped to lift Rex onto a stretcher.

“I believe I know where he gets it from,” Obi-wan said lightly, glancing towards Anakin, “But the three of us must be going. As you can imagine, our unofficial mission has drawn much attention from the council.”

Anakin and Ahsoka sighed in unison as Obi-Wan led the way to the council chambers. After a good half hour of being chewed out by the council, there was ultimately no punishment, as their mission had been quite successful, and Obi-Wan was good with words.

“Now you need to get your butt to medical,” Anakin told Ahsoka once they left, “There’s no way you’re doing anything before you get that blaster wound looked at.”

Before Ahsoka could object or claim to be fine, Anakin grabbed her arm and began guiding (or dragging) his injured padawan to the medical wing. After dropping Ahsoka off with only some fuss, Anakin found his way to Rex’s cot. Master Che had taken over for Kix after the initial pickup, and said Rex would be awake and aware within the next few days, but that it may take longer to get his strength back.

As Anakin was about to leave, he saw Rex begin to stir. Too soon, he thought. Master Che had said the next few days, not the next few hours. Then again, he considered, she’d also specified aware, and Rex looked anything but aware. His gaze didn’t seem to be focused on anything, and he was mumbling in mando’a. Anakin knew a bit of the language, but he was far from fluent enough to understand his captain’s incoherent jumble of words.

Anakin brushed a hand over the man’s head and sent a wave of calm to him.

“Go back to sleep, Rex,” he said quietly.

Rex seemed to focus on him momentarily before his eyes shut again.

Chapter Text

Rex woke up a few times in the passing days, but never for more than a few minutes, and he never seemed aware of his surroundings. But, on the fifth day, when Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Anakin had all found time to visit, he woke up.

As he began to stir, Obi-Wan shifted his focus to the soldier, “Captain Rex, can you hear me?”

“‘Soka?” he mumbled.

“Yeah, I’m right here,” she said, moving closer, “Do you know where you are?”

Rex glanced around, “Are we in medical?”

“Yes, you’ve been asleep here for a while,” Ahsoka said.

“Krell!” Rex shot up far too quickly and grimaced in pain, “He’s a Sith! He-“

“We know,” Obi-Wan placed a hand on Rex’s shoulder and guided him back down, “Dogma killed him. Fives told us everything. The only thing we don’t know is exactly what happened to you.”

“I’ll write a report, I can have it done in a couple hours,” Rex mumbled.

“For the next couple of days at least, likely weeks, you’ll be on bed rest and will not be writing a report until you’re better,” Obi-Wan scolded, “If the council needs to know something they’ll just have to visit you in the med center.”

“He’s right, Rex,” Anakin said, stepping closer, “You should rest, for as long as you need.”

“But, Sir, I don’t need-“

“Let me rephrase,” Anakin interrupted, “You should rest for as long as Master Che says you should.”

Rex accepted defeat in the argument, but he was still a bit indignant about having to stay in the medical wing for so long.

Just then, Ahsoka’s comm started beeping, and she had to rush to class.

“I should be going as well,” Obi-Wan said, “Feel better, Captain.”

“Thank you, General,” Rex said a bit awkwardly.

Anakin supposed that made sense. Rex probably hadn’t ever had this many people make this much of a fuss over him. After Obi-Wan left, Anakin commed Master Che. After a quick exam, she decided that Rex was recovering well.

“We’re trying to save beds, so anyone who isn’t in danger is being moved to a barrack set aside for injured troops. We’ll check in periodically, but you’ll be mostly on your own,” Master Che explained, “You’ll be moved there tomorrow, Captain.”

Anakin considered this for a moment. Rex was not in a good mental state – not by a long shot. He may not be in danger, but Anakin didn’t feel good leaving him unsupervised either.

“Master Che,” he said, “Can I speak with you for a moment?”

Master Che eyed him carefully, but agreed.

“Do you have a problem with my course of action, General Skywalker?” she asked accusatorially.

“He shouldn’t be alone.”

“He won’t be alone, there will be other clones, and medical will check in-“

“I saw the damage left by the mind probe,” Anakin pushed, “He may be okay physically, but Dooku left a warpath.”

“If that’s true he should see a mind healer,” Master Che said, “Though, most clones are rarely sent to the mind healers. If I bring it up, it’ll likely lead to your captain being sent back to Kamino for reconditioning.”

No one seemed to be entirely sure of what reconditioning was, but Anakin had heard the clones talk about it like it was some ghost story or nightmare.

He shook his head, “That won’t help. Let me watch him. A Sith hurt him, a Jedi can help him.”

Master Che considered this, “Alright, he can stay in your quarters. I’ll have him moved today.”

“Good,” Anakin said, “I’ll-“

He was cut off by the beeping of his comm.

“I’ve got to go,” Anakin said, “I’ll be back to my quarters in twenty minutes though.”

Master Che nodded, then went back to the medical wing. When Rex saw her, he sat up worriedly.

Sensing his concern, she explained, “Everything is fine, Captain. General Skywalker just had a good point to make about the effects of Dooku’s mind probe. It’s quite an ordeal. He suggested you stay with him for a bit, as a Jedi can likely help you recover from the presence of a Sith in your mind.”

Rex paused for a moment, but he accepted it.

Chapter Text

“Do you need anything?” Anakin asked, once he’d gotten back to his quarters.

“No, thank you, General,” Rex responded too quickly.

“Rex,” Anakin pushed, “I don’t mind.”

Rex hesitated, but responded, “Water, please, General.”

Anakin nodded, then stood to get it. When he got back a few minutes later, Rex had pushed himself up into a sitting position. Anakin handed him a plastic cup of water and watched carefully as he took it. Rex’s hands were shaking badly, and he would’ve dropped the cup almost immediately had Anakin not caught it.

Anakin sat down on the edge of the bed and glanced at Rex’s hands. Still shaking. Probably an effect of the mind probe. When Anakin had put Rex to sleep at the prison, he’d gotten a glimpse of the clone’s mind – or what was left of it after Dooku’s rampage. If Anakin had his way, Rex would’ve gone straight to a mind healer, but he knew that was rarely done for clones.

Rex looked embarrassed after failing to do something as simple as taking a drink of water, but Master Che had warned that he would likely be unable to perform even very simple tasks when he first woke up. So, Anakin held the water to Rex’s lips himself. Hesitantly, Rex began to drink it. The clone seemed to notice just how thirsty he’d been, because he quickly began to gulp down the water as if it were going somewhere. When he’d finished it, Anakin set down the cup on the table next to Rex’s cot.

“Thank you, General,” Rex said, his face a bit red.

               “You don’t have to be embarrassed. I took care of Obi-Wan when he was sick with Fester Lung,” Anakin shuddered at the memory, “Believe me, he was in much worse condition than you. And that fever had him saying some pretty embarrassing stuff.”

               Anakin laughed out loud as he thought back to his master’s feverish talk of Duchess Satine, “And, in case you can’t tell, he still has my full respect.”

Rex gave him a small smile, but his face fell quickly.

“I’m not going to force you to talk about anything,” Anakin said, “And I’m no mind healer. But if you ever want to get anything out in the open, I hope you know you can talk to me.”

“I know, General, thank you,” Rex said.

Anakin gave his shoulder a squeeze before he stood up and left.

Chapter Text

At long last, the council was able to ask Rex about Krell. Obi-wan had come, along with Windu and Yoda. Anakin had also adamantly refused to let them interrogate his injured captain without him present.

“How are you feeling, Captain?” Obi-wan asked.

“Been better,” he said groggily.

Windu approached the bed swiftly, “Captain Rex, what exactly happened with General Krell?”

“He wanted to execute two of my men, so I… came to an agreement with him, and he called off the execution,” Rex explained, carefully leaving out the worse details, “I was unaware that he wanted to turn me into Separatist forces, but he threatened more clones, so I went willingly. I don’t know how long I was being interrogated for, probably a few weeks. I gave nothing up, so I was moved to the labor camp that General Skywalker, General Kenobi, and Commander Tano liberated.

“You gave nothing up in interrogation?” Mace sounded doubtful.

“Dooku tried his mind tricks… whatever they’re called, but it didn’t work,” Rex said, exhaustion slowly taking over, “He tried a few other methods, but clones are trained to resist torture. He learned nothing.”

“You resisted the mind probe?” Anakin asked, eyes wide, “From Count Dooku?”

“Yes?” Rex answered, confused.

“Strong willed, this one is,” Yoda said, “Believe him, I do.”

Without another word, Yoda left. Both Mace and Obi-Wan took it as a signal for them to leave as well, though Mace seemed unsure.

“That’s impressive,” Anakin said after a moment, “I’ve only ever seen a force sensitive resist a mind probe.”

The both of them were silent for a beat before Anakin spoke again, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m sure, General.”

All of a sudden, they both startled at the sound of a crash, then the opening of the door to the small bedroom they were in.

“Captain!” Fives yelled, Jesse and Tup trailing behind him.

Rex sighed, “What did you three just do?”

They all paused.

“Sir, I think that’s one of those things you’ll want plausible deniability for,” Jesse replied.

While Jesse’s statement certainly didn’t help Rex’s steadily growing blood pressure, the captain dropped the subject, “What are you all doing here?”

“Checking on you, Sir! Because we care,” Fives said far too happily.

“You three did something stupid and came in here for an alibi,” Rex said plainly.

“Perhaps,” Fives said hurriedly, “But we want to know how you are!”

“I’ll leave you to it,” Anakin said, ignoring the silent plea for escape from his overgrown children written on his captain’s face.

“But, in all seriousness, Captain, we really are grateful for what you did,” Fives said, “And I really don’t know how to thank you for it.”

Rex let his stiff posture relax a bit, “I just did what I would do for any of my brothers.”

“And that just makes us all the more grateful,” Jesse replied.

Rex offered a quick smile, and Fives stepped a bit closer to ask, “How are you feeling, Captain?”

“Everyone’s asking me that now,” Rex huffed, “I’m sore, but I’ll live.”

After a small pause, Rex added, “I found out Commander Tano carried me back to the ship though. I don’t know if I’ll ever live that one down.”

“We always knew she could carry a clone on her back, it was just a matter of time before she proved it,” Fives laughed, “That being said, she’ll never let it go, no matter how much food you bribe her with.”