Chapter Text
“I just don’t know how to get him to realize that we are connected,” Rex confessed to Cody and Plo, as they sat in the cramped tent at the army camp on Hisseen. It makes me worthless, like back on Kamino, when I was nearly decommissioned over my hair color.
“Skywalker’s a good man,” Cody said, gruffly. “He’d have to be being raised by Obi- Wan and Quinlan.” In the privacy of the tent he used their first names. “He just needs time, ner vod.”
“Plo was so disturbed by the aiwha bait cloners that it took a bit to accept our bond,” Wolffe revealed. “Plo’s got such an ori karta, he hates the way the kaminise treat us.”
Cody’s head jerked and Rex could see the realization of something appear in his dark eyes. “This information doesn’t leave this tent, understand?” Rex and Wolffe nodded. “Obi- Wan told me that Anakin was born in slavery in the Outer Rim. That might be why this bothers him so much.”
“Oh.” Rex leaned forward and dropped his head in his hands. He thinks we’re slaves.
“Plo has talked similarly. He says that we’re treated like slaves, that the Jedi are, too. He- he wants us all to be free someday.” Wolffe’s voice was disbelieving.
“Free to do what? Waste our lives like nat- borns? We were born to defend the Republic.” Rex’s words sounded hollow, even to himself.
“Kal talked about us being free one day, too,” Cody pointed out.
I know. I just can’t imagine what that would look like.
Anakin slipped away from the army camp to run through a lightsaber form alone and clear his mind. He knew he must be focused for the campaign, but he couldn't stop thinking about Rex. He knew that Rex was his dyad and yet all he could think of are the pleasure slaves back on Tatooine, their eyes blank with spice, bruises painting their skin. It made his stomach turn to think about being that person. Rex has no choice. Anakin knew that Obi- Wan is in a relationship with his clone commander, Cody, and that Cody chose for their relationship to be intimate. He knew on some level that he was denying Rex’s autonomy, but he couldn't seem to release his pain into the Force and let Rex choose this. Instead, he avoided his loyal commander every chance he got. Soon, Anakin wouldn't be able to avoid him, though. They would have to fight together to break the siege on the Hisseen capital.
Anakin did his best to avoid Rex regardless. His clone captain was with the rest of their unit, engaging battle droids. Anakin made the totally practical decision to jump over the line of battle droids and engage the spider droid lumbering towards them. He landed on top of the spider droid and plunged his lightsaber into its round body. The droid sputtered and stopped, but Anakin wasn’t paying attention to the droid. He sensed a disturbance in the Force: the Dark Side. A S'kytri woman flew over the battlefield, a red saber ignited in her hand. Is she the Sith Master? Or another apprentice?
Anakin didn't have time to ponder it further because the woman swooped forward, swinging her lightsaber at him. He backflipped off of the collapsing droid and dodged the lightsaber. “It’s not polite to try to kill someone without introducing yourself,” Anakin quipped.
The Darksider narrowed deep green eyes ringed with sickly yellow at him. “I am Kharys and I am going to kill you, Skywalker!”
Anakin rolled his eyes. “How original.” He used the Force to yank her towards him and tried to pull the lightsaber from her hand, but she resisted him.
“So arrogant,” she sneered. “Thinking you can stop me.” She shoved Anakin backwards with the Force and he stumbled over the detritus of droid parts strewn across the battlefield. Kharys used the Force to pick up the destroyed spider droid and hurtle it at Anakin’s clone unit. He caught the spider droid and it hovered in mid- air between them. “You care about them,” Kharys noted. Anakin felt her press against his mind. He pushed her back, then threw the spider droid at her. The S’kytri woman beat her wings and flew above the droid. As she flew back down, closer to Anakin, someone fired their blaster at her, from behind him. Anakin sensed Rex’s presence. Stay away, he wanted to yell. This will only put you in unnecessary danger.
Kharys caught the blaster bolt in mid- air. Anakin felt real fear begin to grow inside him. He stretched out his senses, calling for Obi- Wan and Plo Koon, who he knew were on the battlefield somewhere. Kharys hurtled the blaster bolt back and Anakin attempted to catch it. He felt the heat, millimeters away from his palm. It took all of his concentration to hold it. Kharys took advantage of his distraction to lift Rex off the ground. She yanked him into the air above the battlefield. Anakin could hear his choking breaths. He focused on the blaster bolt and threw it at Kharys. It hit one of her wings and she shrieked in pain and wobbles in the air. She dropped Rex and Anakin caught him with the Force, setting him gently on the ground. Anakin wanted to check on Rex, but Kharys was still very much a threat. She lifted more debris off the ground and threw it at the troops. Anakin jumped from one piece of debris to another, trying to reach her. “You need to surrender, before I get angry,” he told her, not entirely joking. Anakin had an anger deep within him that scared him sometimes, but today he hoped it would scare Kharys. It was not a Jedi- like thought but Anakin didn't particularly care.
“It is you who should fear my anger,” Kharys responded.
A hail of blasterfire interrupted their conversation. Rex, Anakin thought.
Kharys rammed a piece of metal into Rex’s thigh in retaliation. He stumbled and Anakin saw the dark blood that started running down his white armor. She will pay for that, he thought. Anakin crushed Kharys’ hand with his mind until she dropped her lightsaber and then he leapt at her, wrapping his arms around her back and putting his lightsaber to her throat. He saw the 7th Sky Corps and the 104th Battalion racing up. Two clones, Cody and Wolffe, he thought, went to Rex. “Surrender,” he told Kharys. Some dark voice in his mind told him to cut her head off. Suddenly, he felt a stabbing pain and he looked down to see a knife buried in his gut.
“You didn’t think a lightsaber was the only weapon I had on me?” Kharys asked. Anakin tried to respond, but he felt lightheaded. Was the knife blade poisoned? He heard the roar of a starfighter engine. Kharys shoved Anakin off of her and flew to land on top of a customized starfighter.
Someone caught Anakin with the Force and lowered him to the ground. Anakin’s mind felt fuzzy. Something’s wrong.
“It’s going to fire on us,” Anakin heard a clone yell.
Anakin stretched out with the Force. The starfighter exploded. He felt a rush of heat coming towards him and then everything went black.
“It disturbs me that we didn’t find her body.” Anakin heard Obi- Wan’s voice and he struggled to wake up. Sharp pain lanced through his stomach and almost pulled him under again, but he breathed through it.
“Master,” he called. “She got away?”
“Anakin.” Obi- Wan rushed to Anakin’s side. “How do you feel?”
Anakin took stock of himself. There was a bacta patch on his stomach and an IV attached to the back of his hand. “Like poodoo,” he admited. “How long was I out?”
“A day,” Obi- Wan said. “You really worried us.”
Rex entered the medical tent. There was something Anakin didn't want to acknowledge in his dark eyes.
“I will take my leave,” Obi- Wan said and exited the tent.
Anakin looked at Rex. He was in his blacks, a large bacta patch on his thigh. As he walked closer, Anakin noticed he’s limping slightly.
“How’s your leg?”
“Like haran, are we going to talk about my leg,” Rex snapped. “You nearly died!”
“I didn’t die,” Anakin pointed out. “I’m a Jedi. Part of my job is fighting Sith.”
“And my job is protecting you,” Rex said, hotly.
Anakin wasn’t sure who moved first, all he knew was that they were kissing like their lives depend on it. Maybe they did.