#21st Nova Corps | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wizardofrozz · 7 months

Text

Tell Me

CT-2697 "Sawbones", CT-2525 "Quarter", CT-6116 "Kix", CT-9181 "Aiden", CT-7007 "Jax", Commander Wolffe, Captain Rex, and mention of Commander Fox

Word Count: ~4.6k

Warnings: war, swearing, traumatic injury, angst, verbal argument

Summary: Sawbones makes it back to Triple Zero only to have his batchmates drop a bombshell in his lap.

A/N: Okay I finally decided to post this and give a bit more information about Sawbones and his relationships with his batchmates. Aiden, the Coruscant Guard's medic, belongs to me and Quarter, the medic for the 21st Nova Corps, and Jax, the medic for the 41st Elite Corps, belong to @hetalianskywalker ❤️

Saw stepped off the hovering gunship, grunting when his boots hit the ground. Coruscant glistened in the morning sun and Saw wrinkled his nose, even the filters in his helmet couldn’t lessen the smog hanging over the capital world. Another set of boots hit the ground beside him and he turned his head enough to catch a glimpse of Wolffe standing at his side.

“You headin’ to the barracks?” Wolffe asked, staring out at the bustling city.

“I guess,” Saw huffed, crossing his arms, “should probably go pay my pain in the ass little brother a visit.” Wolffe laughed under his breath, shifting his weight to bump their shoulders together, making the corner of Saw’s mouth lift in the ghost of a smile that was hidden behind his helmet.

“I was thinking the same thing,” Wolffe sighed, his speech sounding slightly slurred with exhaustion.

“Thought Fox was older.”

“He is,” Wolffe replied, leaning more of his weight into Saw’s side, “but the 501st just landed for shore leave too.” Saw perked up at the mention of Kix’s battalion; it had been far too long since he’d seen his little brother. “If you wait a few more minutes I’ll walk with you.”

“Fine,” Saw mumbled, although he already planned on waiting. Wolffe snorted, the sound muffled by his helmet and Saw was close enough to hear the inhale that meant he was going to say something else before his comlink started to chirp. Wolffe blindly hit the button on his vambrace and Saw could hear his muffled greeting but the rest of the conversation was lost to the confines of the commander’s helmet.

The buzz of the surrounding hangar filled the silence, allowing Saw’s mind to wander as he waited for Wolffe to finish the call. Then Wolffe suddenly stiffened, ending the call a few seconds later yet they continued to stand in silence.

“We need to get to the barracks,” Wolffe managed through clenched teeth.

“Why?” Instead of answering, Wolffe grabbed his arm, yanking him out into the warm sunlight and Saw had to fight the urge to pull away. “I want an answer.”

“And you’ll get one,” Wolffe snapped, finally releasing his arm. Saw ground his teeth together but kept pace with his commander, closing the distance between the hangar and the barracks in record time. They nearly ran over a group of Rex’s shinies, the five troopers stopping in their tracks to salute the higher-ranking officers but Wolffe never broke stride, barely acknowledging the troopers. The main barracks were humming with life, 501st, 104th, and Corries mingles in the halls as they went but Saw was too focused on their destination. While he never worked on Coruscant, he had spent enough time navigating the building to find Aiden that he recognized the pathway.

Saw picked up the pace, shoving past groups of troopers with Wolffe on his heels. The medbay’s door slid open, cutting off the conversation taking place a few feet inside. Kix, Aiden, and Rex all turned at the same time but Aiden looked away first, shifting his weight anxiously as Saw stalked closer.

“Someone start talking. Now.” His voice came out harsh, cold almost, and Saw hated himself a little more when Aiden flinched. Kix leveled him with a narrow-eyed look before turning to their youngest brother, resting a hand on Aiden’s bright red shoulder bell.

“Go finish your shift, okay?” Kix urged, offering Aiden a small smile. Aiden squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before nodding; he glanced in Saw’s direction but he wouldn’t let their eyes meet before he hurried off. Kix shifted his attention back to Saw, jerking his head toward Aiden’s office. Saw ground his teeth together but followed quietly, glancing at the medbay door when it slid open again, catching a glimpse of Rex, Wolffe, and now Fox greeting each other. When the door to Aiden’s office finally shut, Saw pulled his helmet off, sucking in a clean lungful of air.

“Kix,” he hissed, tossing his helmet onto the nearby desk, “what the fuck is going on?” Saw turned to face his younger brother, squinting when Kix refused to meet his eyes, which only made his irritaition grow.

“It - It’s Quarter,” Kix whispered, looking down at the floor. The anger dissipated so suddenly that it left Saw a little dizzy, his face falling until he was just staring at Kix with a wide-eyed expression. Kix didn’t meet his eyes when he spoke again. “It’s bad, Saw. He - there was an explosion.”

“He’s dead,” Saw stated, squeezing his eyes shut. There was a deep, hollow ache building in his chest as he pictured his brother’s face.

“He’s alive but it was close,” Kix explained, making Saw’s eyes pop open. “He’s alive but - but he lost both legs.”

“What? How - how did you find out?”

“Quarter, he uh, called me,” Kix mumbled, looking up through his lashes. Saw’s nostrils flared but he managed to keep his voice steady.

“And he expected you to relay the message,” Saw growled, clenching his hands at his side. Kix flinched, looking away and Saw felt like he was missing something.

“No, he called Aiden right after.” Saw blinked at his brother for a few seconds until the realization dawned on him. There was a good chance Jax, who was in the middle of a campaign, had received a call as well and based on Kix’s reaction, this wasn’t a brand-new development. Meaning, Saw was the last to find out, and it wasn’t even from Quarter himself. “Saw -”

“Don’t,” he barked, pointing a finger at Kix, “don’t you defend him. He didn’t even have the fucking decency to call me!”

“Do you blame him!” Kix shouted, stepping into Saw’s personal space. The close proximity was nothing new but the venom in his brother’s voice made Saw jerk back in surprise. “When’s the last time you even spoke to him?”

“The last time the five of us had a com call,” Saw replied immediately, his expression twisting into its usual scowl.

“When’s the last time you spoke to him alone, jackass,” Kix corrected, stabbing a finger into his armored chest. Saw opened his mouth to answer only for it to hang open because…when was the last time he just talked to Quarter. Saw met his brother’s gaze, blinking rapidly a few times; after a few seconds, Kix’s face softened and he let out a long breath. “Not saying he was right but you two haven’t been on the best of terms for a long time, Saw.”

Kix was right but still. Something like this was important. How could Quarter not tell him? It felt like all of the air was ripped from his lungs, forcing him to take a few shaky steps back and drop into Aiden’s chair. He rested his elbows on his knees to cradle his head, massaging his temples in a futile attempt to ward off the headache he could feel building behind his eyes.

“That still doesn’t explain why he didn’t call me,” Saw forced out between his teeth, scrubbing at his face. “I don’t give a fuck if we’re on good terms or not, that’s something you fucking tell your brother.” The thump of boots covered up the soft sigh Kix let out and Saw’s stomach dropped when he heard tapping on the keypad beside the door, assuming Kix was leaving him with his own anger. His head snapped up when he heard the lock engage followed by the soft clink of plastoid knocking against durasteel.

“Go on,” Kix urged, crossing his arms.

“What?” Kix rolled his eyes as he pushed off the door, making his way across the room. Saw sat up slightly, giving Kix room to climb onto the edge of Aiden’s desk, watching his brother shift around, shoving a few styluses out from under his ass before turning his attention back to Saw.

“You get it all out now. Scream, cuss, rage until you’re blue in the face,” Kix started, his expression hardening the longer he spoke. “But it starts and ends here, we clear? You are not going to go into his hospital room and start a fight. So take it out on me, right now, and then you fucking leave it here. Got it?” Saw couldn’t help the little smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth; maybe he was rubbing off on Kix after all these years.

��Yes, sir,” Saw sassed and no matter how hard he tried, Kix had to fight the smile threatening to spread across his face. The lighthearted atmosphere didn’t last long though as Saw’s thought drifted back to Quarter and his anger came back with a vengeance.

“Talk to me,” Kix whispered, lightly tapping the toe of his boot against Saw’s shin.

“I don’t understand him,” Saw grumbled, roughly rubbing a fist into his eye.

“To be fair, you never really have,” Kix noted, his legs swinging slowly.

“I can’t fucking believe him. The fucking nerve of him to leave it up to you to tell me,” Saw said, his voice low and cold. “Didn’t even have the balls to tell me himself.”

“I know you’re pissed -”

“Fuck you,” Saw cut in, sitting up straighter. “Pissed off doesn’t even cover it. I’m fucking furious.” Kix tilted his head in that calculating way he always did and Saw felt like he was being flayed alive, a skill Kix had mastered early in their childhood.

“No,” Kix hummed, shaking his head. “You’re terrified.” Saw jerked back, arching a dark brown, attempting to act like Kix was a mile off when in reality he was hitting a little too close to home. “We were all scared, Saw, but this is different.”

“Oh yeah,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“You almost lost him without ever getting the chance to fix whatever broke between you two.” It would’ve been less painful if Kix would’ve just punched him in the face. He’d never admit it out loud and it was almost too raw to even admit to himself but if he didn’t look at it too closely, he could acknowledge that Kix wasn’t wrong. “So no, you’re not furious. You’re scared and hurt.”

“Why?”

“Why what?” Kix asked.

“Why didn’t he call me?” Saw hated how small he sounded, the ache in his chest bleeding into his voice. He looked up at Kix, his expression more open than it had been in a long time and he saw the wide-eyed shock on his brother’s face. “Does he truly think so little of me?”

Coruscant could be very boring when confined to a hospital bed. Quarter had tried to busy himself with reading or watching holofilms but nothing seemed to hold his attention for long. The Paladin was just barely visible in the atmosphere but even without being able to see the Venator from his room, Aiden had already warned him that the 104th were planetside. On the bright side, the anxiety sitting in his stomach like a rock allowed him to ignore the phantom pain wreaking havoc on his lower body.

Quarter mindlessly scrolled through his datapad, eventually finding a few medical journals that caught his attention. He spent the next few hours skimming medical jargon until there was a soft knock at his door, a nurse with a bright smile and a tray of food waiting to be invited in. He eyed the food, poking curiously at the variety of options; staying at Coruscant General had its upsides, one being no ration bars and he made a point of at least trying the things the nurses brought him.

He was about halfway through his meal, mindlessly feeding himself while he continued reading about a prototype upgrade for neural links to prosthetics when he heard the familiar thump of boots coming down the hall. He glanced out the window, noting that Coruscant’s sun had started to dip below the horizon, throwing breathtaking golds, pinks, and oranges across the room. A small smile lifted the corner of his mouth as the boots grew closer; Kix and Aiden had promised to stop by after he got some rest. The familiar sense of home lingered as the boots stopped just outside his door and Quarter turned his head.

His jaw dropped, eyes widening when the door slid open revealing gray and white armor, the chilling wolf skull helmet scanning the room before dropping to his seat form. This was the absolute last person he expected to see and once the reality that Saw was standing in his doorway set in, Quarter stiffened. He did not have a good feeling about what his brother had to say.

“Saw?” he whispered. Quarter didn’t miss the way Saw’s shoulders lifted slightly. An easily recognizable blue vambrace shoved Saw forward, allowing the door to glide shut behind him.

“Who else would it be?” Saw grumbled, awkwardly shifting his weight before finally reaching up to tug his helmet off. He looked everywhere but at Quarter and it made his heart ache. The fear and guilt battling in his chest made him want to fidget but he tried to keep still, not wanting to draw Saw’s attention. It felt like trying to hide from a predator, staying hidden long enough until the threat passed.

However, Saw looked oddly calm, his head turned toward the window. The setting sun threw golden light over his brother’s features, highlighting the weariness in his mostly blank expression. They continued on in silence and Quarter could feel the anxiety vibrating through his bones. Couldn’t Saw just yell at him and get it over with? The chilly atmosphere was worse than his brother ripping him to shreds.

“You know, I hate Coruscant,” Saw eventually mumbled, one of his hands absently tracing the lines of the armor covering his stomach. Quarter could only blink in confusion, the emotional whiplash making his head hurt.

“Why?” Quarter asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Saw’s eyes flickered to him for the first time, raking over Quarter before looking back out the window. He was starting to wonder why his brother was trying to make small talk before concluding he never wanted to see Quarter again.

“Smells like shit,” Saw grunted, his eyes narrowing slightly like he was straining to see something. “Too much life on one planet.”

“I - yeah I guess so,” Quarter replied, still feeling very lost. What the hell was Saw getting at? Was he trying to make Quarter squirm? “Saw, look I -”

“Why?” Saw cut him off, his eyes never leaving the darkening horizon.

“Why what?” Although, the question was pointless; Quarter knew exactly what Saw was talking about.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” The inflection in Saw’s voice made Quarter stop short, squinting at his brother. Saw had a fairly low speaking voice, his words rumbling through the air like the thunder that plagued Kamino but there was something different about it now. An odd tone that Quarter couldn’t remember ever hearing from his slightly younger brother.

“I’m - I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Quarter sighed, dropping his gaze. He tried not to focus on the way the sheet fell flatter sooner than it should. His fingers started twisting the sheet around his waist and he had to force himself to still them. “Everything happened so fast and…and I thought I’d be bothering you. You - you barely seem to tolerate me nowadays.” He lost some of his steam until his voice was barely a whisper in the silent room. It took all of his courage to look through his lashes and he almost wished he hadn’t when he found Saw staring at him, his face surprisingly slack.

“Are you fucking dense?” Quarter bristled, his brows pinching together; he had tried to prepare for Saw’s ire but that was just nasty. Sawbones could be cruel, he’d heard the stories, but it was never aimed at their batch.

“No,” Quarter snapped, turning his head. He did his best to steel himself, waiting for what came next but the soft, defeated sigh wasn’t what he was expecting.

“Did…” Saw paused, quietly clearing his throat, “did you really think I’d be happy to hear secondhand from Kix?” Quarter swallowed, his throat clicking as he looked down at his hands where they rested in his lap. A stray lock of hair fell into his face and he watched it sway for a moment before taking a deep breath.

“I…I wasn’t sure you’d care.” There was a pregnant pause that made his anxiety spike and he flinched when he heard Saw move but he couldn’t face his brother. A warm, familiar hand gripped his jaw, forcing him to look up at Saw’s bent form. There was a haunted look in his brother’s eyes and he could only imagine what was running through Saw’s head as they locked eyes.

“Get outta your head and listen to me,” Saw hissed and Quarter watched his jaw flex. “You fucking scared me, do you get that? I thought you were dead and I found out from Kix. Do you understand what a kick to the face that was?” Quarter must’ve been a sight, his lips parted, eyes comically wide as he blinked at Saw’s tense expression. If Saw hadn’t had a firm grip on his face, his jaw probably would’ve dropped.

“I - I didn’t think…” Quarter trailed off because what did he think at the time? Now, faced with the hurt he’d unintentionally inflicted on his brother, Quarter acknowledged that it was a shitty thing to do. “I - we haven’t talked in…months, Saw, I just thought…" He hated the way Saw’s eyes squeezed shut, the way his face turned away as he released Quarter’s jaw and took a step back. Saw just stared at the floor for a beat, his jaw working, chewing on his next sentence.

“You should know I give a damn about what happens to you. Period,” Saw stated but it sounded more like he was talking to himself than Quarter. “It’s my fault that you don’t.”

“It…I should take some of the blame too,” Quarter whispered. There hadn’t been some big, explosive reason behind their strained relationship. Things had just gotten harder: Quarter started to doubt himself and his place in their batch more and Saw was changing, growing bitter and angry. Then they had been shipped off, spread across the galaxy and they never found that rhythm that they had as kids.

Saw and Quarter became strangers with a past.

Saw huffed, bringing Quarter back to reality, and reached up to massage above his left eyebrow. Despite the tension in the air, Quarter smiled a little at the gesture, it was something Saw had done since they were kids when he got stressed.

“Never broke that habit it seems,” Quarter noted, nodding at Saw’s raised hand when he turned at the sound of Quarter’s voice.

“Heh, guess not.” Saw let his hand drop back to his side, glancing at Quarter out of the side of his eye. “You remember it?”

“Course,” Quarter scoffed lightheartedly, “that’s how I knew Jax was about 2 seconds away from getting punched.” Saw let out a quiet huff of laughter, the corner of his mouth twitching in his bastardized version of a smirk. And Quarter was hit with just how much he missed Saw. Yes, they spoke here and there but one of their batchmates was always around too. “I’m sorry, vod.”

“Yeah…me too,” Saw mumbled, scratching at his cheek. Quarter surprised himself with the laugh that burst from his lips but the way Saw’s smirk grew told him that his brother was hoping for that reaction.

“I see you’re still allergic to apologizing,” Quarter chuckled.

“You got the gist,” Saw grumbled but his expression was a little softer.

“One day I'll get the word sorry out of you,” Quarter teased tentatively. He was rewarded with a dark little smile from his brother that made him almost giddy.

“Maybe they’ll write on my headstone,” Saw said, his voice wavering like he was fighting laughter.

“Only if they add a disclaimer,” Quarter countered. Saw’s laugh had gotten deeper and a bit softer over the years but it still had the same lilt to it that made it so uniquely Sawbones. Their laughter tapered off and the room fell quiet again but it didn’t feel as heavy as before. “Come on, sit. Kix and Aiden will be stopping by soon.”

“Great,” Saw grumbled but he still moved around the end of Quarter’s bed, dropping into the chair at his bedside with a grunt. He kicked his feet up on the edge, leaning back in the chair and crossing his arms, looking just as relaxed as he would in his own bunk. Quarter noted the way his eyes paused on the empty section of the bed for a split second.

“Comfortable?” Quarter huffed with a fond eye roll.

“Mm thanks for asking,” Saw sighed, shuffling down in the chair a little more. “When do you get the new legs?” Quarter did his best not to wince but the question wasn’t really a surprise. Saw had always been about as subtle as a detonator going off.

“Another day or two,” Quarter answered, searching for the remote to the little holoprojector on the opposite wall.

“Maybe I’ll get to see you upright before I head out again," Saw mused, shifting his attention to the holo playing in the background.

“I guess we’ll find out," Quarter sighed. He looked down at the remote in his hand before letting out a long sigh and holding it out toward Saw; his brother snatched the remote with a pleased sound in the back of his throat. “Asshole.”

“Dumbass.”

It felt odd to walk again. His body was going through the motions but there wasn’t the sensation of his feet on the ground. Quarter tried to ignore Aiden hovering at his side, even if he did appreciate his little brother’s concern. They had been working on his movement for almost three rotations and while he was still a little unsteady, Quarter could at least move around on his own. He glanced up when the medbay door opened, smiling when Kix stepped inside.

“You better not get any height advantage from those,” Kix teased, pulling his helmet off to smile at his brothers.

“Right,” Aiden exclaimed, throwing his arms out. “He can’t be the oldest and the tallest.” Quarter rolled his eyes but a bright smile spread across his face.

“Yeah, yeah,” Quarter huffed, half-heartedly swatting at Aiden before turning his attention to Kix again. “You heading out again?”

“Soon,” Kix answered, running a hand over the top of his shaved head. “Thought you might want to come to see Saw off.”

“I don’t know if you should walk that far,” Aiden cut in before Quarter could answer.

“Let’s find out,” he countered, throwing an arm around his youngest brother’s shoulders to keep himself steady. Quarter didn’t need to look at Aiden to know he was rolling his eyes, especially when Kix chuckled under his breath before following them into the hallway.

With Aiden’s help, the trip to the hangar wasn’t difficult, although it was a bit slower. He was a little taken aback by the rainbow of colors scattered around the hangar. Blue and gray armored men, with a bit of red sprinkled in, moved about, loading supplies into gunships that were heading back to their respective Venators while green and yellow-clad troopers just started to unload.

“Looks like the 327th and the 41st are back too,” Kix noted, his eyes darting around the groups of green they could see. Aiden let out a quick breath before he spoke again.

“3, 2, -”

“Quarter!”

“He found us,” Aiden chuckled, steadying Quarter when he dropped his arm. Jax broke into a light jog, weaving around crates and troopers. He was maybe ten feet from them when an arm wrapped around his neck, forcing him to scramble to keep his feet under him. Quarter tried to hide his smirk when he realized that the arm was connected to familiar gray armor. Saw proceeded to half-drag Jax along with a hilariously deadpan expression.

“Let go, Saw,” Jax growled, wildly flailing in the general direction of Saw’s head. When he finally released him, Jax stumbled, whipping his head around to glare at Saw even if it was hidden behind his helmet.

“Scary,” Saw stated flatly, arching a dark brow. “But your threats to put me on my ass will have to wait. I’m loadin’ up.” Jax finally took his helmet off and the five of them just stood there for a moment, soaking up the presence of their entire batch being together in person, even if it was only for a few minutes. Jax was the first to break the silence, letting out a soft huff before throwing his arms around Saw’s shoulders.

“Stay safe,” Jax mumbled.

“Get off me,” Saw grumbled even as he tentatively wrapped his arms around Jax’s torso. Kix stepped up next, smiling at his older brother, and Quarter couldn’t help but join in when Saw’s expression softened the tiniest bit. He did always have a soft spot for Kix.

“Talk to you soon,” Kix murmured, tilting his head forward. Saw’s jaw flexed, the muscle jumping under his skin as he leaned forward to gently bump his forehead against Kix’s. Aiden was next, standing ramrod straight in front of Saw, looking like he was going to salute him, and Quarter shook his head.

“Cut it out, shithead,” Saw chided, roughly dragging Aiden into a hug. Quarter could hear the faint wheeze of all the air leaving Saw’s lungs and could see the little smirk on Aiden’s lips before they separated.

And that just left Quarter.

“Be careful,” he warned gently with a half-smile. Saw just stared at him for a moment before taking a cautious step closer. Things were starting to look up between them and they were going to put forth an effort to talk more regularly but things were still a little awkward. There was a beat of silence between them before Saw moved to cup the back of his neck, squeezing gently. Quarter relaxed under his brother’s hand and watched the way Saw’s eyes flickered around his face before resting their foreheads together.

“I’m proud of you.” It was so simple, something that would’ve been nice to hear from anyone but it held so much more weight coming from Sawbones. The brother he always seemed to be out of sync with. Quarter may be the oldest but he’d always looked up to Saw.

Wolffe’s gruff voice cut through the hangar, yelling for Saw. Quarter lingered for a second longer even if his legs were starting to feel fatigued. Saw pulled away first, squeezing the back of his neck one last time before taking a step back. He grabbed his helmet from a nearby crate, offering the ghost of a smile at his batch of brothers.

“Behave, boys,” Saw called, offering a two-finger salute before slipping his helmet on.

“Move your ass, Bones,” Wolffe yelled from a gunship hovering nearby.

“I’ll walk even slower now!” Saw shouted in reply, striding across the hangar. Aiden, Jax, Kix, and Quarter watched him go, laughing to themselves as they listened to the commander and his medic exchange jabs. Quarter smiled softly, his eyes following Saw’s retreating form until the gunship doors closed.

Quarter continued to watch as the gunship exited the hangar and eventually became a dot amongst others in the skylanes over Coruscant. The war and his current predicament slipped to the back of his mind for a few minutes.

Quarter had his brother back and that was all that mattered. They’d figure out whatever came next.

Ragu list:

@a-single-tulip @wings-and-beskar @anxiouspineapple99 @secondaryrealm @dystopicjumpsuit @sunshinesdaydream @moonlightwarriorqueen @starrylothcat @starqueensthings @multi-fan-dom-madness @trixie2023 @wolffegirlsunite @clonemedickix @sev-on-kamino @dukeoftheblackstar @mythical-illustrator @commander-sunshine

#star wars #OC: CT-2697 Sawbones #OC: CT-2525 Quarter #OC: CT-9181 Aiden #OC: CT-7007 Jax #clone medic kix #CT-6116 #the clones wars #star wars fanfic

41 notes · View notes

lamaenthel · 5 months

Text

Tivaevae | Chapter Five: Basting

Still struggling to emotionally recover from Master Obi-Wan's deception, Ahsoka discovers in the aftermath that twelve-year-old Boba Fett has been locked up among adults in the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center. After convincing Chancellor Palpatine to grant him a pardon, she manages to secure his release on the condition that she serve as his legal guardian. Now, with the help of Master Plo and the Wolfpack, she vows to help him track down what family he has left.

| AO3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |

Fandom: Star Wars Characters: Ahsoka Tano, Boba Fett, Plo Koon, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, Kanan Jarrus, Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives, CC-1119 | Appo, Dexter Jettster, FLO | WA-7 (Star Wars), Shaak Ti, ARC Commander Blitz (Star Wars), CT-6922 | Dogma, Original Clone Trooper Character(s) (Star Wars), CC-3636 | Wolffe, Clone Trooper Sinker (Star Wars), Clone Trooper Comet (Star Wars), CC-2224 | Cody, CT-5597 | Jesse, CT-4860 | Boost, Aurra Sing, Tobias Beckett, Null-11 | Ordo Skirata, Kal Skirata, Original Mandalorian Characters (Star Wars), Original Droid Characters (Star Wars), Original Jedi Character(s) (Star Wars) Total Word Count: 123,000 Chapter Word Count: 8,154 Chapter Summary: Boba has a hard time on Kamino, and Ahsoka gets a bad feeling about the storm keeping them there.

Comet, alongside Koon at the helm, set the ship down on the landing pad. It was raining hard; Boba had almost forgotten just how fast the rain came down on Kamino.

"This will hopefully be a short trip," Koon said, initiating the lockdown sequence. "However, we will be leaving with a new man in tow. The Wolfpack has long had need of a medic, and we have found him."

"Really, Sir?" Wolffe asked, his eyebrows up. "Is he shiny?"

"He is a veteran of New Bornalex, actually." Koon gestured at Boba and Tano to follow him to the airlock. "Formerly attached to the 21st Nova Corps, Mangle is a skilled Marine medic who sustained a rather devastating injury but is finally ready to return to duty."

"Not surprised Bacara transferred him out, then," Wolffe muttered.

"Boba, you didn't happen to bring any crayons with you from prison, did you?" Sinker snickered.

Boba raised an eyebrow. "You think there's crayons in prison?"

"We'll have to stop by the nursery and see if the tubies have any– hey!" Sinker rubbed where Boost had elbowed him in the gut.

Koon sighed like a long-suffering father. He sort of was, Boba had come to realize. He spent all of his money on snacks for his soldiers and he was pretty sure that he had caught Wolffe mouthing buir more than once. He almost reminded him of Kal, if Kal wasn't a complete fucking shitstain cunt. The Wolfpack, as they called themselves, seemed to all adore him.

The ramp lowered and the group hurried down, jogging together to the entrance while squinting at the ground. They spread out once inside, shaking themselves like wet massiffs. Boba felt a sort of malicious glee seeing the gray water all over the sterile white floor.

"So, is there a bell that we ring or something?" Tano asked, rolling her left arm and wincing like she'd just gotten punched. She had done that earlier, too, after they'd been dancing for almost an hour straight and she had accidentally smacked her arm on the bunk ladder.

"No need," Koon said mildly, then gestured down the hall.

Nala Se, flanked by Commander Blitz and a tall, red-skinned Togruta woman with a lightsaber were approaching. Boba could just barely see the stock of a shotgun poking over the back of Blitz's shoulder, and he had a hand on one of his two DC-17s.

"Master Jedi." Nala Se bowed to Koon. "I am pleased to welcome you to Tipoca City. And I am glad to see that you did not perish on Geonosis alongside your father, Boba."

Boba stared at the ground and suddenly wished that he hadn't left Robert on the ship. He really didn't want to be back here. Tano placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and squeezed. He felt a little better with her hand there, much to his annoyance.

"Boozhoo, Ahsoka." The tall Togruta Jedi that was stationed at Tipoca City pulled her away from him and into a hug. His shoulder felt cold where her hand had been. "It's been too long, ogichidaakwe."

"It has, Master Shaak-Ti." Tano rubbed her left lek on the older woman's face and let her cheek be rubbed in return. They both purred like sleeping tookas. He didn't mind tookas, but the one time Dad had let him hold one he'd had a sneezing fit that lasted hours.

"Boba, you appear to be injured. May I offer the services of our medical center?" Nala Se tilted her head at him. "We are capable of…"

His heart pounded in his ears, drowning out the longneck's voice. He didn't want to go to that medical center. He already knew what they'd do, he remembered the way Dad would limp for days after the longnecks drilled into his hip to take his marrow. That's all he'd be, just a fucking bag of DNA for the rest of his life, tied down to a table with needles in his bones and those souless fucking demagolkase peering down at him calling him 'it' and he'd never see the sun again, just hear rain pounding against the roof and the thunder shaking the walls–

Before he could say anything Tano had stepped out of the other Tog's embrace and put herself in between him and Nala Se.

"No," Tano said in a voice that made the hair on Boba's neck stand up. "He doesn't go anywhere without me." She stepped behind Boba and put both of her hands on his shoulders.

Nala Se blinked her big black eyes at Tano. "It will take but a moment."

"I said no." Tano squeezed his shoulders and– was she growling? "We did not come here for medical attention. His injuries have been treated already. Nothing but time is required."

Nala Se nodded. "Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to aid you."

"Have Jango's quarters unlocked for us." Tano glanced skyward as an unexpected crack! of thunder shook the ceiling. The storm was picking up. "And I want to see Corporal Dogma."

"That will not be possible," Nala Se said, bowing her head apologetically. "It is a matter of your safety, Padawan. CT-6922 killed a Jedi. He must not be allowed near one ever again."

Boba nearly choked. A clone had killed a Jedi? Fucking hell, that was a sentence he'd never expected to hear. They were programmed from birth to worship the bastards, how could he have ever raised a weapon to one?

"I want to see Dogma," Tano said, stressing the name. "I accept the risk. You will not be liable for anything that happens to me."

"Ahsoka," Koon chided her without any real heat.

"I apologize, but the answer is still no," Nala Se said.

Tano's hands tightened on his shoulders. "Is he armed?" she asked harshly.

"No, of course not."

"Does he possess the Force?"

Nala Se looked offended. "I do not understand your line of questioning."

"I dueled Pre Viszla," she said sharply. "I fought Asajj Ventress, faced General Grievous twice, and I killed the scion of a Mandalorian clan along with over a dozen of his vassals without my lightsabers and walked away victorious from every single fight. What is Dogma capable of that makes him so deadly that my safety is at risk?"

Boba's jaw dropped to his chest, barely able to comprehend what she'd just rattled off so casually. "Holy shit," he said faintly, and the other Togruta Jedi covered her mouth and laughed softly.

Ahsoka winked at him.

Nala Se's right eyelid twitched. "ARC-2485 will escort you." Beside her, Blitz shifted his weight. "You may visit with CT-6922 for one minute, no longer."

Tano smiled wide enough for her fangs to show. "Thank you, Doctor," she said pleasantly. "I'll tell Dogma that you said hello."

Nala Se bowed her head and turned to sway gently down the hallway. Boba wondered if Tano knew what it looked like when a longneck got pissed, because the stoic, bug-eyed bitch was giving a great demonstration.

"Well done," Shaak-Ti said, her eyes twinkling. She rubbed her lek on Tano and made that rumbling noise again.

"Nobody is going to touch you, Boba, I swear," Tano said quietly in his ear. "Ni ven'kyramu ad'kebbur."

Boba nodded. After that speech, he believed her. And he was pretty sure she'd enjoy it. He was beginning to see why Tiarek liked her so much. Dad would have liked her, too, he realized. She had mandokar, the fighting spirit. He just… hadn't expected it in a Jedi.

"Come on." She clapped him on the shoulders. "Master Plo, after we see Dogma we're going to Boba's old quarters to look for anything that Jango may have left behind about the Cuy'val Dar."

Koon nodded at them, and although it was hard to tell, it looked like he was smiling. "I will accompany Master Shaak-Ti. Wolffe, Sinker, please go with Ahsoka, Boba, and Blitz. Boost, Comet, with me."

"I believe that we will be able to find information on the Mandalorians you speak of in the Kaminoan archives," Shaak-Ti added. "I know your time is limited, but I will see you again before you depart, dear girl." She winked at him. "And it was lovely to meet you, Boba."

"You too," Boba mumbled, looking at the ground.

"Alright, let's get going." Blitz jerked his head and took off in the opposite direction of Koon.

Tano kept her hand on his shoulder as they followed Blitz to a part of the facility that he'd never been to. He didn't even know they had a detention center. When he'd been growing up, if a clone didn't meet the longnecks' standards then they'd get an appointment with the incinerator, not locked up.

Maybe the Kaminoans were just that desperate for the clones they'd made when they still had access to Dad's marrow.

The Kaminoan detention center wasn't exactly impressive. It was a circular chamber with eight locked doors. Blitz led them through the first one on the left and they crowded into what was barely bigger than a closet; there was a door on the far right side which opened to yet another door where the prisoner was kept, and most of the room was taken up by a desk under an observation window.

"Nala Se said one minute, so you get one minute," Blitz said as he undid a series of electronic locks. "No touching the prisoner, no secret messages, no sneaking him any objects. Behave or I'll yank you out."

Tano smirked. Boba had a feeling that she wanted to see him try. "Stay here," she told him. "I'll just be a minute."

"If you aren't, Blitz is coming after you," Wolffe said wryly.

"Be right back." Tano gave him a wink and walked through the heavy door Blitz was holding open for her.

Wolffe pushed Boba over to the observation window overlooking the tiny room. There was a clone laying on his side in bed with a beard, shaggy hair and a hollow expression. He had a stylized V tattooed across his face and he was as thin as a wheat stalk. Dad's clones were altered to put on muscle easier than breathing; for him to be as thin as he was, he couldn't have been eating anything at all.

"Let's see how quick it takes her to break the 'no touching' rule," Wolffe mumbled, smirking at Sinker.

"I give her fifteen seconds," Sinker whispered.

"Generous," Wolffe quipped back.

"If he killed a Jedi, why does Tano want to see him so bad?" Boba asked Wolffe.

Wolffe glanced at Sinker. "It's a long story," he said quietly. "We'll talk about it once we leave."

"On program," Blitz ordered through the microphone sitting on the desk.

Dogma didn't move.

"I said on program, Corporal. Now."

Dogma dragged himself to his feet and stood, swaying slightly, and placed his hands on the back of his head. His arms were like twigs and his ribs jutted out through the gap between the top and bottom of his red fatigues.

Boba didn't know how to feel about it.

Blitz turned up the audio so they could hear their conversation, then crossed his arms.

"Dogma!" Tano charged through the final door once it unlocked and immediately embraced the emaciated man.

"Told you," Wolffe snickered.

"Commander?" Dogma's eyes went wide and after a second of shock he returned her hug. He buried his face in the crook of her neck and broke down into tears. "Commander, I'm… I'm so sorry, I'm so, so sorry."

"Don't touch the prisoner, Commander Tano!" Blitz bellowed into the microphone. He was too loud, the speaker shrieked from the feedback.

"Ke'shabi nebat," Tano snarled over her shoulder, then pulled back and cupped Dogma's face. "Ke'sushi, Dogma," she said rapidly in Mando'a, so quiet that Boba could barely hear it over the speaker. "Gar cuy cin'kar'ta. Gar cuy jat'verd. Gar ru'cabuor Republika. Ni partayli. Gar vode partayli. Ni ven'akaani akay gar cuy yaim. Ne noy'ganar manda. Mhi ne'nibra."

"Now, Commander!" Blitz yelled again. He stomped away from the desk and unlocked the second door.

"Do you understand? I won't stop, Dogma." Tano smoothed his overgrown hair out of his face.

"On program!"

"Commander, please don't leave me here," Dogma sobbed.

She was crying now, too. She pulled him into another hug. "I'm sorry, Dogma."

"On fucking program now, prisoner!" Blitz ripped the third door open and jerked her out of Dogma's arms with one strong hand.

"Don't touch her!" Dogma screeched, grabbing at Blitz; Boba could do nothing but stare as he saw the clone go for Blitz's sidearm in a panic, trying to protect his Jedi.

"Shab," Wolffe snarled. He stepped away from the window and tried the door, but it was locked and keyed for the Kamino guard alone.

Tano brought her arms up hard like wings, freeing herself from the wampa hold, and at the same time she dropped down to one knee. She locked her ankle around Blitz's and then used his own body weight to flip him over her head and onto his back. She spun over him, still kneeling, and pinned him to the ground with a knee on his throat. "Stand down, Corporal!" she ordered Dogma.

Dogma retreated to the wall and stood at attention, suddenly every inch a soldier again. "Sir, yes Sir!" he barked. There was a spark of life in his eyes where there hadn't been a minute earlier.

"Well I'll be damned," Sinker mumbled to himself.

Boba blew out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. That was fucking wizard.

"That was for your safety," Tano said quietly to Blitz. "I'm going to let you up now, Commander. No hard feelings, 'lek?" She released him and stood, keeping herself between Blitz and Dogma.

Blitz was on his feet in less than a second and shaking with anger. "Out," he seethed. "Now."

"Alright, alright." Tano held her hands up, smiled at Dogma one last time, then let Blitz shove her out.

Boba could barely comprehend what he'd just seen. Tano had flipped a fucking ARC twice her size like he was a sack of tatos, and she'd done it using an Echani throw. Since when did the Jedi learn Echani?

"Everyone, move," Blitz snapped, marching Tano forward with a heavy hand latched around her rear lek. The three scuffled to get through the door behind Blitz and Tano before they got too far. He walked her out of the circular antechamber and back out into the hall.

"You were given specific instructions–"

"By Nala Se, yes," Tano said with a smirk. She smacked his hand away from her lek. "I am under no obligation to follow her orders."

"And by me–"

"You don't outrank me." She actually fucking giggled. Was she insane?

"Listen here, you insubordinate little shit–" Blitz yanked her back by the shoulder and slammed her against the wall with his arm across her chest.

Wolffe and Sinker immediately lunged forward to intercept the furious ARC, but not before Boba had snatched Sinker's deece out of its holster. "Let her go," he said calmly, pointing it at Blitz.

The amused little tooka-like smirk dropped off of Tano's face and was replaced with fear. "Boba, no!" she gasped.

"Calm down, it's on stun." Boba double checked then flipped a switch. "Okay, now it's on stun."

Blitz lowered his arm and backed off, and Boba was pretty sure that he had turned purple under his bucket.

"Boba, put the blaster down," Tano ordered.

Boba immediately flipped the safety on then handed it back to Sinker by the barrel.

"I think we can find our way from here, Commander," Tano said calmly, stepping away from the wall and in front of Boba.

Blitz snorted. "Have fun. Prime's old quarters are on the sixth floor, section Tau, all the way at the end of the hall. Doubt you'll find anything, though, they emptied it the day after he bit it."

Boba's heart stopped. "What? What did they do with all of our stuff?" Boba asked faintly.

"Incinerator, probably." Blitz spun on his heel and charged away, his kama flapping angrily with every step.

"Incin–" Boba said to himself in disbelief. No, they couldn't have just thrown it in the incinerator.

"Boba, look at me." Tano leaned down until she was at eye level with him. "Take a deep breath. It's going to be okay."

"They– he was just being mean, right?" Boba nearly whispered.

"I don't know," she said quietly, then put her hands on his shoulders. "Just breathe for a few seconds with me."

He squeezed his eyes shut. It couldn't be gone. Blitz was just being a dickhead because he was mad at Tano for flipping him. It wasn't gone. "We have to go see!" he said urgently, then bolted.

"Boba, wait!" Tano called after him.

He was already halfway down the hall. He slid around the corner and found the staircase, the one with the squeaky step on the third level that sounded exactly like an aiwha screeching, and he made it up faster than ever now that his ribs weren't on fire. He heard shouting behind him from Tano and the Wolfpack but he didn't care, they knew where he was going.

He had to see. He had to.

He burst onto the sixth floor and made a beeline for his quarters. Everything looked the same, even at this speed, and it almost made him dizzy with the memories that came flooding back.

"Come on, Bo'ika, it's time for bed. You can watch them practice tomorrow."

"Boba, look, I did it! Dad, I did the knot just like you showed me!"

"Smile big for Mama! Cassus, don't pull Tiarek's hair–"

"Boba, what did I tell you about dropping Reks'ika's tooka doll down the vent?"

"You're leaving again, aren't you?"

"Look Boba, we twins!"

"Mama loves you so much, my Bo'ika."

"Daddy, you hurt him! Wexika!"

"Pack your things. We're leaving."

Boba reached his home and slid the door open, fully expecting his father to be sitting on the couch with his mouth hanging open and snoring, dead asleep halfway through another holo.

It was empty. Completely empty. Even the furniture was gone. The couch that had a bite mark on the leg from Mird chewing on it, their round meal table with the paint stains, the holoprojector that went as big as the whole wall, the height markings that Dad had proudly recorded on his birthday every year in the kitchen, Dad's quetarra; all gone. He rushed into Dad's room and climbed the closet shelves like he'd done a hundred times before.

Boba's eyes burned. It was gone. Everything was gone. It was like they'd never even existed. He dropped from the shelves and sank down to his knees. He felt exactly like the home he'd grown up in.

Empty.

"Boba? No, you guys stay out. Just stay out, okay? I've got it." Tano placed a hesitant hand on his back. "Boba?"

"It's gone," Boba whispered. "It's…" His eyes hurt so badly, why did they hurt? He couldn't breathe through his nose, either. "He's gone."

There was no pretending anymore. Dad was gone. The Slave I was gone. Now, even the last things he had of his dead mother and brother were gone.

"Ahsoka," he cried, and curled up on himself. "It's gone."

"Boba, oh vod'ika–" she pulled him backwards into her lap and hugged him tightly. "I'm so sorry."

The dam opened. He couldn't stop it anymore. It was gone, everything was gone, it had all changed and it was never going to be good again. Dad was dead. Mama and Cas were dead. Tiarek barely knew who he was. Everyone was gone and they were never coming back. Nobody loved him anymore. The only people who remembered his dad just wanted to use him. It hurt so bad every single day and it just never stopped.

"Ke'duumi, Boba," Ahsoka whispered, rocking him. She was doing that rumbly purr thing. It felt good, like a hug inside of his chest. "Don't fight it. Just let it all out."

"I miss him," he bawled. "I want my da-a-ad." He cried like a fucking baby, and he hated himself for it.

"Of course you do, vod'ika, of course you miss your dad." She rubbed her lek on his cheek. It was softer than he expected and smelled spicy, like corn pollen. "He loved you so much. I know you love him too. That's why it hurts. You have all that love and nowhere for it to go."

"Why did he have to die?" Boba sobbed. "Why didn't he fly away?"

"I don't know. I wish I did." Her rumbles got louder.

"I see it all the time," Boba cried. "I see his… his head…"

Ahsoka kissed his forehead. "I hate that you saw that, vod'ika."

"It's my fault," he sobbed. "I forgot it and they burned it."

"What did they burn?" Ahsoka's hands were so gentle that it almost hurt.

"The bo-o-ox," he bawled. "I forgot to pack it but we were going to come back and get it after… after Geonosis…"

"I'm sorry." Ahsoka whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"I didn't bury him," Boba wept. "He– he's still there. They stripped his beskar'gam, I know they did, they probably melted it down and s-s-sold it."

"I'll find out. I promise, Boba, I'll find out. It's okay. Keep getting it out, Bo'ika, it's okay."

He cried into Ahsoka's warm, squishy lek until he was so exhausted that he could barely draw breath. Her hands, soft in a way Aurra's never were, rubbed soothing circles on his back and scratched his scalp until his whole head tingled. Eventually he ran out of tears and just sat hiccupping and shaking, still unable to really stop.

Ahsoka wiped his eyes with her thumbs then smiled at him, her own eyes swollen and wet. "Your dad would be so proud of you, Boba. You've survived so much. Gar ijaati kaysh. Every step you take forward in this life is because of how well he taught you."

He almost started crying again.

"Plo's outside, so we're gonna wash our faces and let him in now, okay?" She kissed his forehead again. "I bet he's got some good news. I don't know about you, but I am very ready to get out of this shithole."

Boba laughed, a little shocked at a curse word coming out of her mouth. She was so proper, it was just wrong.

After a quick splash on their faces with water from the fresher, Ahsoka let in Plo, Shaak-Ti and the Wolfpack. There was a new clone with them that had to be Mangle. He had a prosthetic jaw made of plastoid and a wild look in his eyes. His hair was shaved on the sides and a little longer than regulation on top, showing his curls.

"Koh-to-yah, Boba," Plo said gently. "I am sorry to see that your father's things are gone."

"Yeah," Boba sniffed.

Ahsoka pulled him towards her until he was flush against her chest and hugged him from behind. "Were you successful, Master?" she asked, swaying gently from side to side and still purring.

Plo's face relaxed from its squinch. "Unfortunately, no. It seems as though the records were all wiped and overwritten."

"The archivists know that it existed, and after analyzing the hard drives they believe that the records were tampered with some time around the First Battle of Geonosis," Shaak-Ti added. "I am sorry, dear girl, but there is no lead to be found on Kamino."

Ahsoka's arms tightened around him. "What about Jango's armor?" she asked, and Boba's heart skipped a beat. "His remains were never recovered from Geonosis. Do you think that there's a possibility that he kept a backup of his records with him?"

"It is possible." Plo and Shaak-Ti exchanged a look. "Going to Geonosis to find out, however… The search may take months, assuming it is still there, and with the war…"

"A few days are perfectly reasonable, though, right, Master?"

It sounded perfectly reasonable to Boba. He blinked at the Kel Dor, afraid of his response.

"It would be an incredible intelligence asset," Ahsoka added in the pregnant silence. "We may find out information on the formation of the CIS. Maybe even find out who the Sith Lord is."

Plo tilted his head. "I cannot disagree on that front, little 'Soka."

"Really?" Boba breathed. "Y-you… you'll help find my dad's beskar'gam?"

"It sounds, as Ahsoka said, perfectly reasonable." Plo's face squinched up again. Boba realized he was grinning.

"Well then, it's settled." Ahsoka squeezed Boba. "Ready to leave?" she asked softly.

"Boba, what did I tell you about dropping Reks'ika's tooka doll down the vent?"

"Wait!" Boba gasped, suddenly remembering. He bolted to his room and got down on his belly in the corner, peering down the intake vent.

It was there. It was there. The longnecks missed it. "Here!" he said excitedly to Ahsoka. "Down there, can you reach it?"

She squeezed in and looked with one big eye. "Uh, yeah, let me just–" Her eyes closed and her fingers moved gently, then the tooka doll floated out of the vent like a feather on an updraft.

Boba snatched it out of the air and grinned at it. It was just like he remembered, crocheted with silver and blue yarn and stuffed with the shreds of one of Dad's worn-out undershirts. There was still a tiny hole between the ears and a loop of string wrapped around its waist. The black button eyes stared back. It was a little dusty, but not nearly as much as he would have expected from being in the vent for six years.

"What was he doing down there?" Ahsoka asked.

Boba flushed. "I used to pretend he was going on secret spy missions. That's why he had the string, so he could rappel out."

He looked up at Ahsoka, feeling stupid, but she was beaming at him.

She held her hand out. "Now are you ready?" she asked.

He hugged the dusty tooka doll, looked one last time around the place he'd grown up in, then took Ahsoka's hand. "Let's get out of this shithole," he said decisively.

"Geonosis?" Anakin's hologram wrinkled its nose. "Ahsoka, are you sure about this?"

"Well, I can't think of anywhere else to find a lead." Ahsoka sat in the commhub chair with her knees tucked below her chin. She picked at a loose thread hanging from her linen sleeping shorts.

"What about that Kal Skirto guy that you mentioned?" Anakin asked.

Ahsoka bit down a giggle. "Skirata. Rex told me about that panyapako, he allowed his crazy Null squad to abuse Boba. I'm not bringing him anywhere near Skirata until I've exhausted every other option, and I doubt I'll get any help from him anyway. Boba filled me in on his priorities."

Anakin nodded, looking unhappy. "If you say so."

"I do," Ahsoka said firmly. "Someone scrubbed the archives on Kamino. I have to assume it was one of the Cuy'val Dar. For all I know, it was Skirata. Unless one of the others decides to come forward, Geonosis is it. Whoever did it wanted to make sure the odds of finding them were next to nothing."

"Well, impossible odds have never stopped you before." Anakin's smile faltered. "How's the arm?" he asked quietly.

Her right hand went up automatically to touch her bicep. "It's fine," she said with a smile. "I'm fine, Master. I'm just a little sore."

"I'm so sorry." Anakin looked away. "Ahsoka…"

"It was my fault," she assured him. "I shouldn't have pushed you that far."

Anakin closed his eyes. "I should never have–"

"I forgive you, Master," she interrupted. "I forgave you the moment it happened. You weren't in your right mind." Thunder cracked so loudly that the walls of the ship vibrated. They were still on Kamino, waiting for the unforeseen hurricane to calm down before leaving.

"Thank you, Snips." Anakin finally met her eyes. "You're a better Padawan than I deserve."

Ahsoka ducked her head and smiled. "And you're a better Jedi than you think, Skyguy."

"I guess we both have our moments," Anakin chuckled.

Beyond the commhub door she heard the sound of footsteps approaching. They were so light footed, it had to be Boba. "Mwana akubwera," she warned him in a casual tone, hoping that her little eavesdropper didn't speak Toydarian.

"Inde." Anakin gave her a wry smile.

"So how's my replacement doing?"

"Your–" Anakin threw his head back and laughed. "You mean Taarak? How'd you hear about him?"

"Rex. Apparently you dropped a teething Togruta toddler off at the barracks instead of taking him straight to the Temple? Rex sent me about twenty messages in a panic because he bit Cody and he didn't know how to tell if he had venom glands or not. I told him that it doesn't come in until we're at least four years old, but still." Ahsoka raised a brow marking.

Anakin bit his lip. "They were, uh, on the way?"

Ahsoka snorted. "Sure."

"Fine, I wanted them to meet him before he went to the crèche. But then Obi-Wan wouldn't leave me alone when I landed, and I told him to drive me to the barracks but he's an idiot and he took me to the 212th's."

Ahsoka snorted. "And why'd you dump the baby on them, again?"

"I'll have you know that I was the one who was being considerate of the baby."

Ahsoka laughed. "So you dropped him off so you could yell at Master Kenobi, then?"

"He wouldn't shut up about your 'foul attitude.' " Anakin rolled his eyes. "And no matter how many times I told him I wasn't talking to him, he just ignored me and kept going. You're going to have to take one for the team here, Snips, or I'm going to throw him off the roof."

"That's a respectful 'hell no' from me, Master."

"I'll give you fifty credits."

"Nope."

"I'll take you to a Gungan shaak roast."

Ahsoka paused. "No."

"Please?"

"Just go give him your new little angel, distract him with some porg eyes," Ahsoka said bitterly. "Works every time."

"Someone's jealous," Anakin snickered.

"Wh– jealous?" Ahsoka sputtered. "I'm not jealous. What would I even be jealous about?"

"I don't know, you sound pretty jealous."

"I am not jealous," Ahsoka sniffed. "He's more than welcome to trick some other gullible kid into trusting him. He'll learn the truth eventually."

Her Master's face fell. "Ahsoka, don't say that."

"It's true."

Anakin sighed. "I'll let you go. Just be careful on Geonosis. I know it's been secured, but those tunnels are endless. I don't know how safe they will be."

"I'll have Plo and the Wolfpack to watch my back. Plus, Boba's a pretty good shot from what I remember."

Anakin's brows went up. "Don't tell me you're going to give him a blaster," he said, alarmed.

"You're right," Ahsoka said, nodding solemnly. "He needs more protection than that. A shotgun would be better."

Anakin's eyes bugged out.

"I think I can find a disintegration module for it too–"

"Ahsoka!" Anakin exclaimed, dismayed. "Don't you dare!"

Ahsoka laughed. "Fine. You're no fun."

Anakin rolled his eyes. "Be safe," he said, then ended the call.

Ahsoka stretched, yawned loudly, and made sure the chair squeaked before she got up. She heard the rapid pitter-patter of footsteps scampering away from the commhub door and chuckled.

Boba was wrapped in a blanket on the couch, pretending to be asleep by the time she made it out to the salon pod. Robert's nose poked out from the edge of the blanket along with the ears of the tooka doll. Ahsoka took a seat two cushions away from him and tucked her legs underneath her.

Boba let out an unconvincing yawn and blinked at her. "Hi."

"Hey." Ahsoka smiled at him. "Why're you sleeping out here?"

"Storm was louder in the cabin." He sat up and let the blanket fall to his waist. Plo had bought him a very nice set of red pajamas that he now wore, though they were a little big on him. His aura was vibrantly green in a way that she couldn't have imagined just the day before, but it was crawling with residual yellow humiliation.

"Do you want to talk about today?" she asked gently.

"I already made enough of a fool of myself, I think," he mumbled. The yellow intensified.

"You didn't make a fool of yourself." She scooched a little bit closer to him. "We cry when we're sad for a reason, Boba."

"Babies cry," he muttered, worrying at Robert's felted claws. "I'm too old to cry like that."

"You're never too old to mourn."

Boba's aura went violet with grief-regret. Ahsoka reached out with a tendril of copper affection and waited for him to speak. "Aurra didn't like it when I cried," he admitted. "I only did it once, after I broke my ankle. She slapped me and told me my dad would be ashamed of me for being such a little bitch."

The red-hot rage that rose up inside of Ahsoka nearly blinded her. She controlled her breathing, centered herself, and controlled its release into the Force. Boba didn't need her anger right now, he needed nurturing and reassurance.

"Ti– Rex, he said Dad would have skinned her slow for what she did," Boba continued. He stared at the tooka doll. "I thought she cared about me. She acted like she did, but I don't…" he glanced at her and then looked away, his aura suddenly going a deep, painful yellow with shame. "I heard Bossk tell her once that she shouldn't be doing that with me. I wasn't ready yet. She told him to mind his own business."

"She never should have done that to you," Ahsoka whispered. "Never, Boba. I'm so sorry that nobody was there to protect you."

Boba's shoulders slumped and he nodded. His aura was leeching green again, going dull and gray. She waited for him to continue, if he wanted to, but he stayed silent and started to stew.

"What was your dad like?" Ahsoka asked, gently changing the subject. He liked when people talked about his dad, she'd noticed. "I admit, I don't know a lot about him. Just bits and pieces."

"Probably nothing good, either." Boba turned the tooka doll over in his hands and Ahsoka took the opportunity to scooch a little closer. "He wasn't just a bounty hunter or the template. He was funny. He played quetarra and sang for us– for me, I mean."

Ahsoka desperately wanted to ask if he was including Rex, but let him keep talking.

"He liked action holos, but even when the volume was up really loud he'd fall asleep before the end." Boba's lips twitched in a half-smile. "And he could draw really, really well. He didn't do it a lot, but he used to when I was little. He could make a drawing out of pencil that looked like it was a holopic." Boba's aura slowly lightened from that bruised, painful, dark violet grief into a desperate lavender longing. "He took me on a few jobs with him. He wanted me to learn. He taught me how to shoot, and three different ways to slice and how to pilot, and, and…" he trailed off and swallowed hard. His eyes were shiny again. "He told me he loved me every day. Even when he was mad at me because I'd done something stupid or messed up, he still always told me he loved me." Boba sniffed. "I miss him."

Ahsoka smiled sadly. "He sounds pretty awesome."

"He was." He hugged Robert tightly. "Do you remember your parents?"

"Yeah." Ahsoka leaned back against the couch and tilted her head so that her lek was barely touching Boba's head. "Not much, but I do remember them. I was three when Plo found me."

"Why'd they give you up?" Boba asked, then flushed. "I mean, why'd they let him? Didn't they… didn't they want you?"

"My dad was actually the one who contacted the Temple," Ahsoka said quietly. "But my mom was having second thoughts. I remember her arguing with him over it."

"She didn't want you to go?"

"No. She thought I'd be fine. She said her mother could use the Force, too." Ahsoka shrugged. "There's a word for it in Binishii, I just can't remember it. Mew- something. My dad wanted me to go, though. He was sure it was my destiny. But, um…"

Boba tilted his head. "What?"

Ahsoka bit her lip. "He died. He drowned. It was about a month before Plo came for me. We were fishing, and he slipped and hit his forehead on some rocks." Ahsoka smiled sadly. "The one place we don't have extra padding, right? But he went under the water and I wasn't strong enough to pull him out. I tried, and tried, and finally I used the Force, even though I didn't even know what the Force was yet. I got him out but it was too late, he'd been under for… well, I don't know how long. It felt like hours. After that, my mom wanted to honor his last wish for me."

Ahsoka blinked away the tears that threatened to fall. She hadn't thought about her father in forever; not before Obi-Wan's funeral, at least. It was just one of those things that had happened to her. It was sad and she missed him, but Crèchemaster Veirexim had helped her release her frustration over her inability to save her father to the Force ages ago.

It wasn't guilt that haunted her. She had done everything she could, she knew that, it was the helplessness over not being able to do more. She hated feeling helpless more than anything. Master Kenobi had made her feel helpless, too, when he made her find his bleeding corpse in a filthy alley. It had been his real blood, too, she could still smell it in her nose. He had to have withdrawn it and kept it on ice in preparation. For all of the talk about Anakin's reaction being the selling point, he'd certainly gone out of his way to personally fool her at every turn.

"At least you tried to save your dad," Boba said bitterly, distracting her from her spiral of self-pity. His aura was flooded with violet grief-regret again. "I just watched. I saw Windu going for him and I just… watched."

"You couldn't have stopped it," Ahsoka said sympathetically, and reached for his hand. "Even if you'd been standing next to him, you couldn't have stopped it."

"I know," Boba said, and his aura flared green with bitterness. "I wasn't good enough."

"That's not why, Bo'ika, the only one who could have stopped it was your dad. He made the choice to confront Master Windu. He could have surrendered."

Boba snorted. "He was a Mandalorian. He never surrendered." He looked away and his aura darkened back into violet grief. "I wish he had, though."

"I wish he had too, for your sake." Ahsoka wiped her eyes and sniffed.

"Hey, don't cry," Boba said awkwardly. "You couldn't have done anything either."

"I know," she said, half-laughing. "It was a long time ago. I don't know why I'm crying about it."

"Well, you said we cry when we're sad for a reason." Boba nudged her with his shoulder. "I think you're sad, Tano."

Ahsoka did laugh at that. "Guess I am." She gave him a watery smile. "I've never told anyone that before, you know. About my father."

Boba watched her sniffle for a few seconds, then sighed. "You need a hug?" he asked, sounding for all the world like it was an imposition, but his aura shimmered with pale green hope.

Ahsoka nodded and opened her arms. He slipped right in and rested his head on her chest like he'd done it a million times before. "Dad told me Togs are needy as hell," Boba said quietly. "If they don't get hugs everyday they go insane, or something."

Ahsoka laughed softly and rubbed her lek against his velvety stubble. It was an accurate, if crude, summary of a Togruta's high haptic needs. "Yeah. Pretty much. Thanks, vod'ika."

He didn't answer at first. "You're welcome, ori'vod," he finally said in a voice so quiet that she wondered if he'd actually thought the words instead of speaking them.

Thunder boomed and startled them both. "This is a bad one," Boba said, the white flare of alarm in his aura quickly disappearing. "I'm surprised they haven't turned the weather matrix on yet."

"They have one of those?" Ahsoka asked.

"Yeah. These buildings can survive almost anything, but they still don't usually let it get this bad."

Ahsoka frowned. "Weird." It was more than weird. She'd checked the weather for Plo an hour before their descent, and while it had been storming, she hadn't seen anything with rotation on radar. Not long after they'd landed, though, the storm had intensified into a full on Grade II hurricane.

She suddenly had a bad feeling that the weather matrix was already on.

"We should go." Ahsoka patted Boba on the back for him to scoot and popped up once he released her. "Come to the cockpit with me."

"We shouldn't take off with winds this strong," Boba said, jogging to keep up with her long stride. "You should comm the control tower–"

"No," Ahsoka said shortly. Her heartbeat echoed in her montrals and there was a lump of dread in her belly. "We need to be in the air, now." She slid the cockpit doors open with the Force. It was empty except for Plo's astromech. "Chart a course for Geonosis and start charging the hyperdrive," she ordered Arseven, then took a seat. "I want to jump the second we break atmo."

"What's wrong?" Boba asked. His aura had gone staticky white with fear-anxiety.

Ahsoka considered lying to him, but decided he could handle it. "This storm wasn't supposed to be this bad," she said grimly. "I think they're delaying us on purpose."

Boba's eyes went wide and his aura went a deep gray with determination-focus. He sat in the co-pilot's seat and started to strap in.

"No," Ahsoka said firmly, booting up the surface-level navigation hologram. "Go man the cannon."

She would have laughed at the familiar look of manic glee on his face if she wasn't trying to run seven different programs at the same time. It reminded her of Hardcase. "Really?" he breathed.

"Yep." She handed him a headset. "Wait for my mark."

Boba slipped through the doors and nearly ran into Plo. He watched Boba leave with a teal aura of confusion-concern. "Ahsoka, what is going on? What are you doing?"

"We need to leave now, Master," Ahsoka said grimly. "They're worsening the storm so we can't leave. They're delaying us on purpose, and I don't want to stay and find out why."

"How do you know this?"

Ahsoka fired up the engines then looked at Plo with pleading eyes. "Master, please, you're a Baran Do Sage. Can't you feel that this storm is unnatural?"

Plo closed his eyes, then stilled. Ahsoka watched his aura fluctuate with bleach-beige unease and he took the co-pilot's seat. "You are correct. We should leave."

The entire ship shuddered as the Kaminoan docking clamp locked down their landing gear.

"Consular Cruiser Babasta, this is Tower, do you copy?" A clone's voice came through the comms in the dashboard.

"Karabast," Ahsoka growled. "Babasta, copy."

"You are not cleared to take off, Babasta, please turn off your engines and wait for clearance."

"Negative, Tower. We're leaving now." Ahsoka slapped on the exhaust exchange switches above her head.

"Nobody is leaving until the storm is over, Babasta. The atmosphere is too–"

A crack of thunder that felt like a concussion grenade split the air directly overhead. Ahsoka spied the weather matrix tower on a platform a few miles to the east, active and glowing, and toggled to the internal comms.

"Cannon, check."

"Cannon, copy."

"Boba, charge the cannon and aim at coordinates oh-seven-oh-eight-eight, ten degrees above the horizon." she ordered. "Do not fire until I give the command."

"Sir, yes Sir," Boba snickered over the comm.

"Ahsoka–" Plo warned.

"Please trust me, Master," Ahsoka replied through gritted teeth. She toggled back the comms. "Tower, you will release the docking clamp and allow us to leave immediately." Ahsoka listened to the mechanical whine of the turbolaser cannon powering up.

"I'm sorry, Commander, but all flight traffic is locked down until the storm passes."

"Boba, raise five degrees and fire a warning shot," Ahsoka said calmly.

"Copy that."

The sky lit up with green as Boba loosed a turbolaser bolt towards the weather matrix and Ahsoka heard him cackle over the comm. It sailed harmlessly over the tower and disappeared into the clouds.

"Commander Tano, what are you doing?" the clone in the tower asked frantically.

"The next one takes out the weather matrix," Ahsoka said coldly. "Release my ship, now."

"Commander, I have orders!"

"You have five seconds to comply." Ahsoka gripped the yoke. "Five."

"Please, Sir, let me get my CO!"

"Four." Ahsoka flushed the coolant. She was going to need it nice and icy for the thrusters if she had to break the clamp. Consulars weren't known for their efficient energy distribution.

"Commander, I can't just disobey a direct order, you know that!"

"Three. Boba, lower five degrees and prepare to fire." She felt bad for whichever poor vod was on the other end, but there was no way she was going to risk her vod'ika by staying a second longer.

"Fuck yeah!" The cannon whined as Boba aimed it directly at the weather matrix.

She tried not to shake from the adrenaline.

"I am with you, Ahsoka," Plo reassured her.

Her breathing steadied. "Two," Ahsoka narrowed her eyes. This was not a bluff the kaminiise wanted to call.

The docking clamp released their landing gear with a thunk. "You are clear for takeoff, Babasta." The clone sounded disgusted.

"Stand down, Boba."

"Awww!"

Ahsoka laughed. "Tell Nala Se goodbye for me, Tower. Over and out."

"What's happening?" Wolffe appeared in the cockpit with his kit on and a deece at the ready. "Are we under attack?"

"Take us up, little 'Soka," Plo said serenely. "Wolffe, we are leaving. I shall debrief the pack once we are in hyperspace."

Wolffe swallowed. "Yes, General."

Ahsoka punched up and navigated through the dangerous winds. A Consular Cruiser really wasn't built for an environment as hostile as a hurricane. Lightning struck directly beside them and Ahsoka's montrals rang like a bell.

"Little 'Soka?" Plo asked. She could barely hear him over the ringing.

"I'm fine," she said through gritted teeth. She pinched her nose shut with one hand and blew, keeping the other on the yoke.

By the time they broke atmo, her resonance chambers had reinflated and her hearing was normal again. Arseven beeped and the blue lights of hyperspace streaked across the cockpit.

Ahsoka sat back and sighed.

Plo undid his seat belt. "With me, Commander. Ahsoka, join us as soon as you can."

"Be right there, Master." Ahsoka glanced at Boba, who had strapped into the navigator's seat and was watching her with a look of awe.

"Ni ven'kyramu ad'kebbur," she said quietly. "I promise, vod'ika."

Boba smiled. "I trust you, ori'vod."

Notes:

MANDO'A TRANSLATIONS Ni ven'kyramu ad'kebbur: I will kill anyone who tries Kaminiise: Kaminoans Vod/vod'ika/ori'vod: sibling/lil sib/big sib Ke'shebi nebat: fuck off Ke'sushi, Dogma. Gar cuy cin'kar'ta. Gar cuy jat'verd. Gar ru'cabuor Republika. Ni partayli. Gar vode partayli. Ni ven'akaani akay gar cuy yaim. Ne noy'ganar manda. Mhi ne'nibra: Listen, Dogma. You are pure hearted. You are a good soldier. You protected the Republic. I remember. Your brothers remember. I will fight until you are home. Don't lose spirit. We won't fail. gar ijaati kaysh: You honor him TOYDARIAN TRANSLATIONS Mwana akubwera: Kid is coming Inde: Yes Panyapako: Asshole TOGRUTI TRANSLATIONS (BINISHII DIALECT) boozhoo: hello ogichidaakwe: female warrior OTHER NOTES Echani: special forces martial arts, the fighting style that the clones learned. I don't actually know if it's Mando specific, wookieepedia doesn't say, but let's pretend it is Fáng Shìlóng: Jedi martial art style. It doesn't have a name so I'm naming it lmao. I'm imagining it as a blend of Wushu and Tai Chi There are two canon (Legends canon, anyway) Mando'a terms for the Republic: Jetiise (Literally plural for Jedi which is dumb to use as an official term) and Tsad Droten (Technically Senate, not the Republic in general). I hate them both so we're using Republika lol I do what I want!!!!!

Taglist: @starwarsficnetwork, @soliloquy-of-nemo Dividers: @saradika-graphics

11 notes · View notes