Chapter Text
Captain Rex was in a quiet corner of the ship near the commanders' quarters, empty of all personnel and enjoying a respite from the briefings and reports that never seemed to end. He liked to wander the corridors on the rare evenings when he had no responsibilities. The barracks were always full of chatter, and he could only play so many games of sabacc. Many of his brothers were down at the mess hall, but the captain wasn't hungry. His stomach growled. Well, not hungry enough to give up this peace and quiet at least. And as soon as the thought registered the peace was broken. Typical. A yelp, a clatter and a vehement "kriff" echoed out into the corridor from one of the nearby rooms.
He jogged trough the portal into a small atrium with a high ceiling, packed along the walls with pipes and machines, a narrow access ledge above the tallest machine. There was a space in the middle and Captain Rex slowed to a halt in it, looking up at the woman on the ledge fifteen feet above.
"Oh, evening Captain. Can you get me down?" she looked rather pale and was deliberately avoiding looking down at the floor. From his spot in the center of the room, Rex could see her white-knuckled grip on the edge of the tiny metal platform. She was pressed back against the wall, legs tucked up under her, tools in disarray on the ground below. Not a fan of heights, he guessed.
"What are you doing up there, Civvie?"
"Whoever built this ship grounded one of the tertiary comm wires to a bolt in here and while it's usually not a problem sometimes it- well nevermind, whatever. I fixed it. I'm stuck."
"How'd you get up there? Couldn't you just come down the same way?"
"Well, wise guy, I climbed the rungs of this water heater, but it looks like one of the officers decided to take a hot shower, because it's on now and too hot to touch."
"That explains the yelp I heard earlier," Rex teased.
"Respect your elders, young man! I won't be sassed by a ten-year-old!" she retorted.
"Ah, well. If you don't want my help then I suppose I could just leave-" he threatened theatrically, making a show of putting his helmet back on and meandering toward the door.
"Oh, come on! Please!"
Rex laughed.
"Fine, but only because you're a Civ and General Kenobi would have my helmet if he found out it was my fault our little helper starved to death on top of an access platform because she was scared of heights."
"I'm not scared, just... a little apprehensive."
"Mhmm." He crossed his armored arms over his armored chest.
"Please can you get me down?" she pleaded.
He took pity then.
"Jump, I'll catch you."
"Captain Rex, if I had wanted to jump onto something as hard and unforgiving as plastoid armor I would have just jumped onto the floor."
He sighed heavily.
"If I take it off will you jump?"
"Do I really have a choice? I'm not waiting for this stupid thing to stop running and then do a full cool-down cycle. I'm hungry," she said simply.
Rex nodded and stripped out of the top half of his armor and removed his helmet, placing them a safe distance away and widening his stance to brace properly. The comms consultant looked him up and down warily.
"You sure you won't drop me?" she asked, doubtfully.
"I'm sure."
"If you drop me I'll kill you," she threatened.
"I won't."
"You promise?"
He rolled his eyes and raised his right hand.
"I, CT-7567, solemnly swear that in the service of the Republic I will do my very best not to drop or otherwise allow harm to come to you, Communications Consultant 0014. That good enough for you?"
She nodded and stood on wobbling legs. "On the count of three. One, two-" her shaky legs failed her and she slipped on the leap, not getting nearly as much forward momentum as she intended and he had to rush forward to make sure she didn't splat. He couldn't stop her from clipping her ankle on an outstanding pipe with a deafening clang on the way down, though. Guess the second half of my promise is broken, he noted with some annoyance. She was sure to be bothersome about that later.
She seemed rather dazed for half a second after he caught her, staring blankly and clinging to his blacks like a terrified loth cat.
"OW, karking hells, oh please don't let it be broken," she hissed.
"Alright, let's get you down to medbay and let Kix take a look at that ankle," Rex said with a resigned sigh, putting on his Captain voice. "I'll have to put you down to get my armor back on."
She nodded, tears filling her eyes, and hissed when he set her on the floor, leaning against the wall on one leg like a Gungan wading bird. He hurried to get his armor and helmet on.
"You think you can walk?"
She touched her foot to the floor and gasped out a "no."
"You want me to carry you or do you want to call your droid?" he asked. Her droid was a repurposed B-1 battle droid salvaged from some dump on Naboo and painted blue. When she'd arrived on the ship a month before, General Skywalker had very nearly sliced the damn thing in half before she could protest. She'd been mad at him for at least a week for that, almost refusing to talk to him. In her defense, she had told them not to shoot her or her droid before she led it out of the ship. Unfortunately the general wasn't one to listen. In his defense he hadn't shot it, but come out swinging his lightsaber.
"No, I'm still working on Roger's arm. His manipulator has been wonky and unpredictable since General Skywalker tried to kill him," she said. "Scared he'd crush my legs or something if he tried to carry me." The bitterness was palpable. She was definitely still mad at Skywalker for the incident.
Rex snorted and picked her up again gingerly.
"Well, I'll do my best not to crush your legs."
"Thanks," she said, deadpan. "I appreciate that."
They were silent as he carried her through empty corridors to the transport train on the middle decks. As they neared the terminal, the halls began to get more crowded, mostly with clones going about their business. Many stood at attention and saluted the Captain as they passed, but all looked curiously after them, wondering what the hell was going on.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer," she shouted sourly behind them, grimacing from the pain in her leg.
Rex was glad she couldn't see the smile behind his helmet.
The transport terminal was full and bustling, the mealtime rush in full force. Hundreds of clones crowded about, and many stared at the captain and his cargo, a few murmuring and pointing. The comms consultant had had just about enough of this, and shouted at one particularly obvious clone. "Duraani, burc'ya?"
Laughter erupted around them, but she ignored it all and closed her eyes. Fuck, her leg hurt.
Captain Rex tried to stifle a chuckle, but she felt the vibrations of choked-off laughter and glared up into the visor of his helmet.
"You think this is funny?"
"'Course not, kotep."
She glared at him. "What did you just call me?"
"Kotep."
She looked at him, waiting for him to continue.
"Means brave," he finally answered.
"That some kind of joke?"
"Wouldn't dream of it."
The transport stopped at the third station and they disembarked, her mood growing darker and darker as the pain mounted. She just wanted a hot meal and a nice, long sleep. Something jostled her foot and white-hot pain sizzled through her. She gritted her teeth and gave a little sob.
"Sorry, Civ. Almost there," the captain soothed.
"We better be," she grumbled.
"Broken ankle, huh?" General Skywalker said, wandering into the room. The civilian was reclining on one of the beds in the medbay, surrounded by Captain Rex, Kix, Fives, and Ahsoka. Ahsoka and Fives lounged in the chairs by the door at the side of the bed, Captain Rex and Kix standing at the other side in the aisle between her bed and the rest of the unoccupied ones.
"Yeah. Hurts like a bitch."
"How'd that happen?" he asked. "I don't recall any battles in the last few hours, do you?"
"Trying to get down from a maintenance ledge after repairs. Lockout procedure on the water heater failed and I couldn't get down so I had to jump. Hit a pipe on the way down."
"Ouch. Speaking of water heater failure, the hot water in my quarters wasn't working earlier. Valve was unresponsive and I had to Force it open."
The comms consultant glowered. She looked positively murderous.
"Yeah, because I locked it so it wouldn't turn on while I was on top of it!" she snarled. "If I thought I could get away with it I would strangle you. This is your fault." She pointed to her bandaged leg and burned hand.
"Looks like it. Anything I can do to make it up to you?" His attitude was flippant and charming and she hated it.
"Yeah, go get me something to eat. Not a ration bar. A sandwich and some juice. Oh, and some of those little rolls. You know, the good ones."
"Hey, can I get some soup while you're at it?" Ahsoka asked.
"And some pancakes for me, too!" Fives interjected.
"Am I just getting dinner for everyone now?" the general asked.
"Yes," said the civilian, Ahsoka, and the clones in unison.
"I'm not room service, you know!"
"You are now!" the comms consultant insisted as he left to go get her food.
"Maker, he pisses me off sometimes."
"You get used to it," Ahsoka sighed. "He's not all that bad."
"I'll take your word for it," she replied. "How old is he, anyway? He looks kind of young to be a general in a galaxy-wide war," she said skeptically.
"I think he's about nineteen," Ahsoka answered.
"You think he's young, we're all soldiers and we're ten years old!" joked Fives.
"Speak for yourself, Fives. I'm thirteen."
"Shut up, Rexy, we know. You're old."
"Pretty tall for a bunch of ten year olds," muttered the consultant.
"And how old are you, Civvie?" asked Kix.
"Twenty-four. And a half," she replied with a yawn. "Far into my dotage." She draped an arm over her eyes.
"Practically a dinosaur," agreed Ahsoka.
"Hey, you're the second-oldest in the room, so watch it."