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#though rex calls him boots
bibannana · 1 year
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Ahsoka *baby padawan who is new to the 501st, holding a tooka kitten who climbed into her pack on a mission*: Well I guess you're mine now.
Fives *nods*: Looks that way Commander.
Ahsoka *tilts her head observing the tooka*: I think I'm going to name you after the bravest man I know.
Anakin *getting proud, thinking that it's him*: Why thank you-
Ahsoka *holds the tooka up in the air*: Rex
Anakin *double take*: What?!
Echo *almost topples over laughing*: Oh he's going to love this.
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voidartisan · 2 months
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doing some work on the order-66-never-happened au (calling it the "happy ending au" feels like a bit of a stretch at this point bc. reasons) and trying to come up with what cody would wear as a civilian. decided it was probably the star wars equivalent of flannels, jeans, and hiking/cowboy boots. realized that this is probably something strikingly similar to jedi robes. cried. still don't know what rex is going to pick even though i'm writing a shopping trip scene with him and ahsoka.
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britcision · 10 months
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Alright I’m still alive a day later so LOOK! First pass of Taaco from TV! Everything but the hat and the cape came from the closet and the shorts say IDGAF on the butt but the cape covers them 😔
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My first magic trick of the day was taking off the bra I wore to drive down without taking off the corset or shirt
My second trick was applying kinesiology tape to bind the tiddies down again, without taking off the corset or shirt
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Success rates??? Not great, I’ll grant you, but I got a couple inches off and they stayed in place with no bouncing even when I ran for the 5 hours of con! So still better than the bra
(You are not supposed to tape the tiddies for more than 4 hours the first couple times you do it apparently and this was attempt 2 so even that was pushing it, especially in 30 degree heat. I go hard or go home)
These boots also have the highest incline from toe-to-heel that I’ve worn to a con, since all my taller shoes are platforms and reasonably flat which makes them super easy to run in
Only had one minor spill while chasing down a t-rex but those photos are all on the camera so they’ll live on Insta when the time comes
The ding dang bracer that closed fine at home on two magnets decided if I was gonna move my hands it now needs 3 to keep it in place, so I’m fixing that today
The criminal in question:
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Aaaand the purple and blue pouch I sewed at the con while waiting for passes, so I think I really had a very Adventure Zone day all around
The hat? The hat crushed it, 0 problems except one attempt to take flight on our way back to the car, which I caught by the curtain wire sooooo I gotta tighten the attachments on that before I put the curtain on cuz it pulled a lil bit
Worked like a charm though, held it above my head for the dealer’s room, weighed nothing (comparatively, hence taking flight), and for the first time in 4 years I spent most of a day outside without getting sun sick
For the first time I did need to bobby pin this wig, which I shoulda seen coming given the hat. It did also keep trying to eat my ears, the pin, my earrings, and anything else that came near my head though so she may also be getting rowdy
The cape jingled merrily all day so even if I was a lil slowed down no one had to worry about losing me! 😁 all in all………. Them boots ain’t coming to Yeticon I would PERISH on the hills, but I have a couple possible substitutes
I’m hoping to have the curtain on by then though! Soooo depending on some imminent updates, we’ll see if the hat comes to con again 👀
We also watched a truck hit a soccer mom ass van and crack the damn windshield in half literally right in front of us rather than wait for the van to move over another foot so it could get through, because some genius decided that if he had to get to the back of the con at 5pm on Sunday through THE MAIN PARKING LOT he didn’t have to show up early or anything
To arrive on time. At the end of the con. On the last day.
You could barely swipe a credit card between their bumpers with how close he was tailgating the van, and then when staff came to direct an opening to slide the truck down the middle he couldn’t wait 5 more minutes for the car to actually get out of the way, sooooooo hope he liked the extra 2 hours and insurance calls
Lucky for us, we could get out of the parking lot the other way and I warned everyone in line behind him that they’d had a crash blocking that lane so they’d have a chance to turn around
I’m never parking back there again I’ll eat the $15-$20 to park at the hotel across the street for Sunday and anyone wanting a ride home with me can chip in
We actually did alright though, only took us one hour to clear the parking lot, despite lots of assholes and some poor indecisive souls who all seemed to think indicating was a polite request, not a declaration of intent
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kenobster · 5 months
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Alas, 'tis an excerpt from a fic written by an author who is too queer for small boxes, a fic that shall never see the light of day, at least not between November 5 and November 11~
As Rex turns the corner, he sees a trembling, huddled shadow, heels to thighs, knees to forehead. He aims his flashlight toward it, and the spotlight drags a youthful face up from the shadow’s chest, its eyelashes fluttering and its eyes cringing away from the bright fluorescent beams. Two hands, one gloved and one pale, are clawing at every coughed sob spilling from its mouth. Frozen, Rex can only stare as he recognizes the face beneath the brittle fingers. It’s quite possibly the last face he ever expected to see here, up to and possibly even including the cybernetic dome of General Grievous. It’s the face of a Jedi General, it’s the face of his Jedi General, it’s the face of Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, the Hero Without Fear. Skywalker’s teeth click around a breathy, ragged whimper. The sound dislodges something heavy from Rex's chest, and something else trickles like ice down his ribs at the sight of his invincible General struggling to keep himself together—and failing. “Sir?” Rex calls out. Skywalker’s hands loosen around his mouth, and an incoherent string of apologies streams out. It's those broken, panicked syllables that finally kick Rex back into his battered armor and banged-up boots. He scans their surroundings for any obvious dangers—aside from the durasteel dust, frayed and dangling electrical wires and abandoned sharp objects. Then he sets the flashlight on the floor to give the shadows a good wash-out. "You seem to be under some stress,” Rex says in the trained and personal script he can now recite in his sleep. "I’m going to check your vitals and try to help you out. That okay?" Skywalker's body rattles. “Not—not h-hurt—m'not—” “You’re not hurt,” Rex repeats. “Got it. I’d still like to check, if that's alright by you. Just to be safe." Though Skywalker frowns like he wants to argue, complete words continue to elude him. His head makes a choppy nod, and Rex takes that as permission to crouch down, remove his gloves, and press a stern grip against the pulse point in Skywalker’s wrist. After counting beats and checking for circulation—and doing his best to gauge the timing of breaths between hitched and ugly sobs—Rex deduces that this is exactly what he thought when the comm came at two in the morning: a panic attack.
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moonlightwarriorqueen · 9 months
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501 being called "precious baby boys"
clones reaction to being called "precious baby boys" and a cuddle pile. I literally whipped this up just now and this is the first time I've written actual dialogue for a star wars thingy? lol I hope it doesn't sound ooc. (Also thought of this song AFTER writing and when editing so congrats here you go)
youtube
So i imagine that they come back from a shit mission and you've already heard it was crap. You're on The Resolute and have been given about 2 hours notice via Anakin that they're heading back so you set to work. You strip all their beds of their comfies and bedding and drag it to one of the bigger empty rooms, you think it was a spare conference room before, but who cares. You set all the mattresses and bedding into a big pile and set some string lights and have snacks all prepared. You've been planning this for a while, Anakin approved and Ashoka assisted.
So when the boys go to their room and see everything gone they first panic, but then see the note telling them to head to a certain room.
Upon opening the door, they see you sitting in the middle of the giant 'bed' waiting. And when you see them, you open your arms and make grabby hands with a big grin.
"There's my precious baby boys~"
Most of them stammer and blush upon the words leaving your lips. Fives and Echo practically rush to you first though. Fives tripping over himself as he kicks the boots off and dives into your arms, Echo faceplanting to your shoulder only a second later. Kix and Rex share an amused look having worked through the stupor, while Tup shyly shuffles over and manages to squeeze between the twins to get some comforting too. Hardcase and Jesse strip off their armour as fast as possible then jump into the pile, content to flop into all the cushioning and soft items with happy groans. Dogma is grumbling under his breath about it being uncalled for and against rule xyz. It takes Rex and Kix both quietly reasoning with him as they start taking off their armour. Unlike their crazy brothers, they set their armour aside carefully and methodically before trying to force Dogma out of his own. He complains the whole time, but when they forcibly lead the not-as-against-it-as-he-says boy over he melts fast into the blankets.
You're quickly in the middle of the pile and everyone is trying to unwind. You listen to them grumble, complain and hold back sobs as they explain how awful the mission ended up. About those they lost and those that were saved. You can easily see them all starting to amp up to fight for curling against you, so a turn system is introduced. Every half hour, they have to switch, but during their 30 mins they can cling tightly to you while you hold them tightly and comfort them like they deserve.
Surely and soon enough, Fives and Echo are passed out to your left in a tangled mess, Echo's hand gripping the edge of your pj shirt hem. Jesse and Hardcase are snacking quietly, although Hardcase is crashing quickly. His eyes are half open and even with his tight grip on the popcorn bowl, he's spilling some onto the blankets as his head is rolling to the side onto Jesse's shoulder. Kix is actively trying to remove the bowl from the overgrown and overtired toddler-like manchild after he just carefully removed Fives' and Echo's armour.
Dogma is asleep to your far right, his big toe stuck out and touching your hip but otherwise is coccooned by himself in the furthest spot of the mattress island. Rex has his side leaned against yours while he is working on a datapad and curled up in the blankets. While Tup is falling asleep between your legs with his face against your chest. His arms are wound tightly around you while he's drifting away and you've untied his hair and are playing with it as you hum softly. He was the third last to get a turn, after him were Kix and Rex who both have already quietly told you to just keep Tup with you.
You didnt agree with it as they needed their turns too, but you weren't going to argue now...You'd get them later once their brothers were asleep.
...
The door opened softly and light flooded from the door only to quickly be shut again. Ashoka deftly and quietly rushing over to the pile with a pillow and blanket of her own.
"I couldn't sleep...and I knew you'd all be in here..." she mumbled with a shy smile
Tup sleepily sat up enough to grab her hand and, while rolling away from you, trap her against him and fall asleep. The padawan made absolutely no move to argue and promptly melted into him, only sticking her hand out to pat your thigh in thanks.
You stood and moved the snacks away so that nobody acidentally knocked them over in sleep. You then yawned and started to walk towards the door.
"oh no you dont..."
you were quickly wrangled by Kix who plopped you next to Rex and then settled on your other side
"but-"
"are you denying us our turns...?" Rex asked with a fake hurt look
"n-no...!"
"then cuddle up and get sleepy. Doctor's orders" Kix grumbled nuzzling into your side.
You soon found yourself drifting off with two human heaters on either side of you and the soft snoring echoing around the room. One hand holding Kix's and the other reaching for Rex.
Sometime later, Anakin came by to check on everyone and upon opening the door, saw the scene most of the Republic would be pitching a fit over. Clones were fleshy killing machines to most's view. Yet here they were all curled up on a collection of mattresses all tangled into each other, his padawan and you.
Dogma had moved closer but was still coccooned to one side...One of Jesse's legs were across Dogma's blanket wrapped ones. Jesse and Hardcase were smushed against on another and the wall with blankets that had once been draped over them. Fives and Echo were to the other side still tangled close together, but their heads were close to your's while Echo's butt was propping up Ashoka's pillow. Tup was curled up around the padawan while the girl's hand clutched onto Kix's sleep shirt. Kix was holding onto a pillow but one hand was holding yours and Rex was half wrapped around you while your left hand had smacked into his face at one point, thought it hadn't woken the captain.
"I knew this was a good idea...night guys" he then turned to leave whispering "good job-" followed by a beam of your name as he left to inform his master on how awesome his group was.
Part 2
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actuallybarb · 7 months
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softest sweater
pairing: captain rex x gn!reader
warnings: one curse word i think, reader and rex shower together but there’s nothing sexual, ahsoka is sad, there’s literally no plot this is just self-indulgent fluff
word count: 0.86k
a/n: i just want it to stop being 104° every day and have a clone trooper to call my own. modern au, i guess, but nothing is specified. i wrote this in, like, an hour, so pls forgive any mistakes
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The sleeves of your sweater were pushed up over your elbows as you washed the growing pile of dishes in the sink, watching the rain fall from your kitchen window. Since the window faced your backyard, you didn’t see whoever it was that knocked on your front door. One quick glance through the peephole, though, had you throwing it open.
Ahsoka stood on your front step, completely soaked through. You pulled her into your home, and with the sounds of the storm shut out with the closed door, you could properly hear her choked back sobs.
“‘Soka?”
“Barriss, she—she broke up with me.”
“Oh, baby.” Water be damned, you pulled her into a hug, softly stroking her cold montrals. “Everything’s gonna be okay.”
She pulled back and wiped at her eyes, still sniffling. “I didn’t know where else to go.”
“I’m glad you came here. Do you want to talk about it?” She shook her head, water falling off of her. “Raid the closet for something dry, I’ll get you some food.”
She pulled you into another hug and mumbled, “Thank you,” into your chest.
You turned back into the kitchen and set the oven to preheat, then sent a quick message.
She’s with me.
After you put the frozen pizza into the oven and started on some cookie dough, your front door opened again. Heavy footsteps turned into soft ones as boots were taken off by the door to dry, then Rex stepped into your kitchen and wrapped his arms around you, tucking his chin on your shoulder.
You leaned back into him as he pressed a gentle kiss to your neck, giggling when sweater fluff got into his mouth and made him sputter. “Hey.”
“Hey. Cookies?”
“And pizza.“ You looked over your shoulder and kissed his jaw before saying quietly, “Barriss broke up with her. She walked here in the rain.”
“Ah, shit. Poor kid.”
“I’d wait for her to come downstairs before you get changed.”
“Probably a good call.” He moved around you and pulled out the brown sugar and flour and passed both of them to you. “And how was your day?”
“Camrac still hasn’t been fired, so, you know, it wasn’t great.” You grin at his muffled chuckle. “It was fine, nothing unexpected. I’m sure I’ll think of something worthwhile to tell you later.”
He smiled. “Looking forward to it.” He took the mixing bowl from your hands and covered the top with a towel, then put it in the fridge to chill. Then he pulled on the oven mitts and carefully removed the pizza from the oven.
Ahsoka appeared at the entrance to the kitchen, wearing one of your softest sweaters and some of Rex’s shorts, rubbing at her eye.
“Hey, kid.”
“Hi Rex.” She walked toward him and tucked herself into his side, his arm tightly wrapped around her shoulders. “Is that pizza?”
“And there’s cookie dough in the fridge.” You sliced the pizza and grabbed some plates. “Movie?”
She nodded. “Movie.”
The three of you arranged yourselves on the couch and got lost in the film. When the pizza and cookie dough were gone, Ahsoka’s head ended up in Rex’s lap, and his head ended up on your shoulder.
His eyes fluttered open as the credits started to roll. “I missed it?”
You snickered and kissed his cheek. “That’s why we picked one we’d all seen before.” You glanced down at the Togruta and smiled softly. “Will you carry her upstairs?”
“Yeah, I’ve got her, you go turn down the bed.”
You crouch down to her level and place a warm hand on her shoulder. “‘Soka?”
“Hmm?”
“We’re gonna take you upstairs.” She started to sit up and open her eyes, but you increased the pressure on her shoulder just barely. “Rex will carry you, baby, just lift your head.”
She did as you instructed and Rex lifted her easily, then they followed you up the stairs. You pulled the covers back on the spare bed, then tucked her in when Rex set her down, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. Then you plugged in a soft night light before closing the door.
Rex already had the shower running when you entered the en suite bathroom of your room, and you groaned as the eucalyptus scented steam filled the space. “You spoil me.”
“I treat you exactly the way you deserve.”
You both stripped down and stepped into the shower, grateful once again you installed the overhead shower head when you first moved in.
Rex’s hair was easy to wash, and you had him purring for you as you scratched product into his scalp.
He happily returned the favor.
The rain finally stopped as the two of you dried off, changed into pajamas, and slipped into bed. Rex, the living furnace, opened his arms and let you curl into him, your head on his chest. He hummed in contentment as he stroked his fingers up and down your back. Your eyes slowly started to close, and you hummed back.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Your family, all under one roof, safe and dry and warm.
There’s nothing else you could’ve asked for.
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fionajames · 6 months
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idk what to title this. it's basically about rex's life mostly pre-christophosis. ive been staring at wookiepedia for the past ten minutes and i've just now decided i'm going to use a mix of canon and legends content so if you thing something is factually wrong (and a lot will be) then your right, but im not spending two hours delving through old comics.
doing research it states as though arc troopers were made only after seeing battle, but idc, so rex and cody were made before they ever left kamino.
this is for @taylorswiftscar, i really hope this lives up to your expectations. if you (somehow) like it, i could do a part 2???
also, btw, most clone trooper numbers here are ones i made up. i googled each to make sure they wont real troopers but if they are, sorry.
warnings: death, mentions of war, war, fighting, battles, fight training.
CT-7567 reached a hand up to touch his short, soft blonde hair yet again, staring into the mirror with a shattered expression.
Why does my hair have to be different? He thought glumly, slowly running his fingers through the short hairs with glossy eyes. CT-7567 used his other hand to gently play with the ends of his cadet uniform - a blue tunic over a red long-sleeved top and red pants held close to his torso with a black belt.
Around him, the other cadets busied themselves with pulling on their own clothes, the room filled with quiet chatter and the sound of their black boots hitting the floor.
"You alright there, 7567?" A voice called and the blonde clone turned to his brother - who of course shared the same tan skin and hazel brown eyes but had his own cropped brown hair. CT-4826 gave him a soft smile before grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him along the hallway. "Let's go, 7567! I want to be first!"
-
"Did you hear?!" CT-7567 turned to see the other clone cadet - unique only for his shaggy dark hair - as he scurried across the silver floor to their bunks.
"What?!" CT-4826 called from the bunk above CT-7567, leaning down to hear better.
"I heard that CT-3383 went out in the rain and fell into the waters!" CT-4526 exclaimed quietly and CT-7567 shrank back in his bed, closer to the wall and further from the tales. "I heard he got eaten by the sea serpent!"
CT-7567 shuddered at the thought of the huge, mysterious creature supposedly lurking in Kamino's dark waters. CT-7567 wasn't afraid of much, but the tales he heard about the serpent made him shiver.
"Oh shut up, 4526," CT-4826 complained, rolling his eyes. "The sea serpents aren't real."
"Yes they are!" CT-4526 replied with a frown, a flicker of hurt playing at his features. "Stop lying, 4826! The Kaminoans said their real!"
"The only sea serpent here is you!" Another cadet giggled from across the room, darting over to the bunk and tackling CT-4526 to the ground. "You should be called Serpent!" The two cadets rolled around on the floor for a bit as CT-7567 turned to face the wall, pulling the sheets over his head and cowering.
-
CT-7567 watched as CT-3383 walked back into the barracks days later, smiling sheepishly as he held his left arm - which was tightly bandaged from his elbow to thumb.
"3383!" CT-7567 cheered as the cadet waddled in, racing over and hugging the brunette's right side tightly - although carefully not touching his left. "You're okay!"
"Why wouldn't I be?" He asked with a tilt of his head and CT-4826 scoffed.
"4526 over hear thought a sea serpent got you" CT-4826 explained, turning to face the cadet with a disappointed look.
CT-4526's bottom lip turned up in a pout as he clambered into his bunk to hide. "Not my fault," he grumbled. "One of the squad-cadets said he did."
The three other cadets exchanged worried glances before the blonde scrambled over to his brother. "It's alright, 4526." He told him, draping an arm over his shoulders. "I believe there really is a sea serpent, but at least 3383's here, ay?"
"Yeah."
-
"Watch your step, 4526!" CT-7567 cried out, slouching down behind the metal barrier to hide from the droids. He glanced at his armor, which was now scratched up from diving and rolling around the citadel training center.
"Go, 7567!" CT-3383 called out, CT-7786 peering out over his shoulder. "Make the run!"
CT-7567 nodded, sucking in a breath before rolling out to the side, racing along the metal floor to the tower. His shaking hand grasped the grappling hook attached to his belt and tossed it up, latching onto the wall.
Clambering up and up and up until finally he was over.
The blonde clone grabbed the staff and held it in the air, cheering as the droids deactivated.
-
"CT-7567 at your service, sir!" The blonde clone saluted, shoulders shaking slightly as he stared at the ARC Trooper in front of him.
"CC-2224 at your service, sir!" The clone next to CT-7567 announced. He was one of the 'classic'-looking clones - the ones with the tan skin, hazel eyes and short black hair. CT-7567 had never met him before this moment.
"At ease, troopers" the ARC Trooper told them, and both their stances relaxed ever so slightly. "I've been informed you both performed valiantly in your training and therefore are being prematurely promoted to ARC Troopers." CT-7567's face broke into a grin that he tried to hide. "My name is Alpha-17 and I'll be taking you for the next part of your training."
"CT-2224" the brunette clone introduced himself again and so CT-7567 did the same, frowning when Alpha-17 shook his head in dissapointment.
"What are your names, boys? Not your numbers," Alpha-17 asked and CT-7567 bit his lip.
"My name is my number" he told the ARC Trooper hesitantly, and CC-2224 nodded in agreement.
"Well, we'll just have to get you names."
-
"2224!" CT-7567 cried out with a grin, lunging towards the clone and wrapping his arms around him. "That shot was amazing!"
"Your tactic was too, 7567!" The brunette exclaimed, punching his brother's arm softly.
"You two make a great team," Alpha-17 told them with a proud grin. "Maybe to greater a team."
-
"7567! 2224! Come here!" Alpha called from the other end of the barracks, and the two younger clones scurried to meet him. "I've decided on names for both of you, if you like them."
CT-7567 nodded eagerly, jumping from foot to foot in excitement. CC-2224 was in a similar state, bouncing up and down. Individually was something clones weren't usually recognized for, and having an individual name was startling.
"2224," Alpha began, looking him directly in the eyes. "I dub you... Cody."
CC-2224, no, Cody beamed with joy, happiness radiating off of him in huge, endless waves. "I love it, thank you Alpha!"
The older clone gave him a gentle smile before turning to the patiently waiting blonde. "And 7567! I dub you, Rex."
-
"You ready to go, Rex?" Alpha asked, gently placing a hand on the Arc Trooper's back. Rex nodded, breathing in deeply and letting his adrenaline take over.
"Yes, sir!" He told him confidently, rolling his shoulders back as he switched the hand gripping the handle of the gunship. It wobbled in the air slightly before making a backwards motion. They were landing.
"Good luck, kid" his brother told him gently. "K'oyacyi!" Alpha patted his back one last time as the gunships doors opened and the clones around them filed out.
"K'oyacyi!" Rex called back, grasping his dual pistols - something he'd been allowed only recently but instantly loved - and rushing out into the sandy terrain of Geonosis.
hope y'all liked that! (to anyone actually reading this)
K'oyacyi means 'hang in there' or 'come back alive' or 'stay alive' in Mando'a.
btw i haven't read over that so thats why there may be several mistakes...
Have a great day!
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Episode 14 Thoughts
Spoilers for TBB Season 2
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AAAAHHHHHH OKAY OKAY I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS AAAAAAHHHHH
It's grey. Why does everything have to be grey? Grey never means anything good.
HOWZER?!
Well that answers one of my questions. Howzer was, in fact, able to keep his hair in great condition while being held captive. Good to know.
BUT HOWZER'S BACK AAAAHHHH
I was honestly like "oh no, Lt. Fuckface is back 🙄" and then remembered that he was dead and that this was some other pasty imperial to hate...
Incoming attack? From Echo maybe???
IT'S ECHO!!!
HE HAS RETURNED AAAAAHHHHH I MISSED HIM SO MUCH!!!
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WITH GREGOR!!!
2 new clones, Fireball and Nemec. Ngl, thought they were both gonna die. 😬 Thankfully not!
Oh great, even Mt Tantiss is all grey and gloomy...
This is just a grey, gloomy episode.
ECHO AND CROSSHAIR IN THE SAME EPISODE??? LET'S GO!!!
Hemlock gives me the heebie jeebies. 😖
LEAVE HIM ALONE YOU DICK
Crosshair convulsing in the back of the shot is horrifying. 😭
Echo without a kama feels very weird...
BUT LOOK AT HIS BOOTS!
FUCK YEAH, CROSSHAIR!!!
I have a sneaking suspicion that this isn't actually going to work out...
You can tell he's out of it. Some of his shots miss.
HE'S SENDING A WARNING MESSAGE TO THE BATCH HELP
If you need me, I'll be sobbing in the corner. 😭
Cross... 😭😭😭
Of course Hemlock is immune to his own poison. That's exactly something to expect from a heebie jeebie man.
AND THE BATCH?! I thought they might just turn up right at the end.
Man, we are doing so well for characters this episode. 🥲
What is that thing Wrecker caught???
Wrecker calling Lyana boss. 😭
Hunter still feeling a little iffy about settling down permanently. Interesting but not surprising. 🤔
TECH GIVING OMEGA FLYING LESSONS 😆
He looks so terrified. 🤣
TECH TURN! TECH TURN!
Omega sounding so excited when she says "It's him". Bestie, same. 😭
Echo offering to race Omega back just confirms that Echo is actually a chaotic little shit and I love him for that. 🥰
Echo, mate, you look kinda naked without the kama. I don't know how to feel about it.😭
THE HUG THE HUG THE HUG AAAAHHH MY HEART 😭🥰
Ooooohh are they gonna find out about Cross from the data stick?
Hunter and Echo still not quite on the same page. 🤔
SORRY BUT WHY DOES ECHO ALWAYS LOOK SO SMALL NEXT TO HUNTER??? DID HUNTER CUT THE BOTTOM OF ECHO'S LEGS OFF LIKE WHAT IS THIS???
"When will it be enough?"
Ugh, that hurt. I love what Echo's doing but I am stressed for his life constantly. I'm really worried that something is going to happen to him and that's why Rex is gonna give up the fight. 😭
I don't necessarily think that something will happen to him this season though...
THEY KNOW THE EMPIRE HAVE CROSSHAIR 😭
They got the distress message. 🥲
Okay, I know that them not completely trusting Crosshair's warning is justified but OUCH it hurts to know that he's trying to help them and they don't know if they can believe him. 😭
JUST LEAVE THE POOR MAN ALONE! STOP IT!!! 😭
THAT'S THE END?! NOOOOOO
Oh no... we only have the finale left...
Aaaahhhhh so much happened this episode!
We got Echo back! (No Rex though ☹️). But also Crosshair, and the Batch AND HOWZER AND GREGOR!!! 🥰 Was hoping we would see Wolffe at some point but he could still turn up in the finale. 🤔
Jennifer wasn't kidding about this being a rollercoaster of emotions. I was just swinging back and forth between happiness and pure stress.
And Crosshair was trying to help his brothers. 😭 He still cares about them and now they want to get him back but they don't know if they can trust him and it's all too many feelings my heart can't take it-
I loved this episode. I think Eps 3, 8 and 12 still top it for me, but I was freaking out a lot. I hope Echo continues to have a significant part in the final 2 episodes and I hope that we see Rex again. Also, where's Cody at rn?
Anyway, I hope we get a Batch reunion next week!!!
I'm gonna go and continue to freak out. Hopefully I can focus on Mando this week after all that. 😵‍💫
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seriowan · 2 years
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a little echo - dad!fives x mom!f!reader (republic victory au)
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⭒ summary: mischievous, giggly, and absolutely adorable. what else could you expect from a miniature version of fives? ⭒ word count: 1.8k ⭒ pairing: dad!fives x f!reader ⭒ cw/tw: tooth-rotting fluff, parenting, motherhood, republic victory au where echo died at the citadel ⭒ a/n: i had baby fever and when @stcrmhond came into my inbox with dad!fives, my mind went into OVERLOAD. baby i see u and ur dad!wolffe mention and LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING... that's probably on its way too cause i have no self-control hehe
-
The first thing that you noticed when you walked through the door of your apartment was the silence. 
   It was quiet.
Too quiet. 
   Normally, a pair of big black boots and a two-year-old’s light-up shoes would be scattered by the door. The air would smell of burnt food from Fives’ attempt to cook dinner after your shift or Ekko would come sprinting up to you with his thick little hands making grabbing motions, eyes full of happy tears as he would beg to be picked up. 
   But, your apartment remained silent. 
   There were no boots or tiny blue shoes by the door. The box of toys was closed tightly and everything stayed clean, including the air that smells like… something sweet? You couldn’t name it and you didn’t have the time to sit and think about it. 
   Hooking your keys on the wall, you slipped off your shoes and shut the door, calling out, “Fives? Ekko? Baby, are you home?” 
   Silence. 
   You frowned, unable to hide the touch of worry as you called out their names once more. Steady footsteps walked to the kitchen, dejected to see that everything was cleaned and put away. You’d rather it be messy and chaotic than so dull and dreary. The nervous pit in your stomach only grew when you ventured down the hall toward your bedroom. 
   As the door opened with a hiss, you cringed, half expecting Fives and Ekko to come jumping out with some sort of prank. Instead, you saw Fives’ armor hanging neatly in its corner, right alongside his blaster and helmet. Straightened sheets showed no sign of Fives’ daily nap and Ekko’s blue blanket, crocheted by Cody but gifted through Rex, sat in its spot between your pillows, folded and untouched since the morning. 
   It was unnerving to know that your home was silent when both of your boys should have been here. 
   Biting your lip, you realized that there was one more room left to check before you were going to call Fives’ comm. With a deep breath, you walked to the door just outside the bedroom — the door painted blue and covered in stickers of GAR ships and various troopers. 
   Much to the 501st’s dismay (but the 212th’s delight), many of the trooper stickers happened to be men in yellow rather than blue. 
   You reach your hand towards the panel when you suddenly paused and pressed your ear against the door. 
   Even though the layers of metal, you caught the trace of a deep and heavy snore, followed by a soft yet undoubtedly mischievous giggle. 
   Chewing on your cheek, you opened the door and peeked your head into Ekko’s room. 
   Clad in grey sweatpants and a tight black tank top, Fives lay sprawled and asleep on the carpeted floor, snoring like an angry bantha in spring. While the faint hiss of the door opening didn’t exactly wake him from his coma nap, the little brown-haired toddler sitting on his chest glanced up with wide eyes of shock, frozen from being caught red-handed with a blue marker in his hand. 
   You slapped your hand over your mouth, clenching your eyes shut as you struggled to hold in a series of loud laughter.
Ekko dropped the marker down in his lap and flashed you a shy smile, dimples creasing his cheeks. His small hand nervously slapped over Fives’ face like he could cover the evidence of his boredom, but all it did was simply wake up his father. 
   With a curt snort, Fives’ eyes snapped open. He blinked, glancing at Ekko with furrowed brows as he reached up to move the small hand from his cheeks. 
   “What the he-e-e-y-y, mesh’la!” He gave you a happy smile, oblivious to the shit-faced grin that you hid underneath your palm. “You’re home late! I didn't make dinner so I figured we'd order somethin' and maybe watch a holofilm tonight-” 
   Clearing your throat, you finally lowered your hand and gestured to your face. “Uh, baby, you got a little something there.” 
   He arched his brows, glancing back and forth between you and Ekko before steadily standing up. Hiking the toddler onto his hip, he walked up to the window and lifted the blinds. The moment he was greeted with a tattooed reflection, his eyes bulged and his mouth fell open in surprise — a look that made Ekko burst with laughter, consequently making you fall into giggles as well. 
   Fives scooped the baby up into the air, holding him right above his face as he accused with a grin, “You did this? You pranked me? You’re barely two!” 
   “He’s obviously a quick learner,” you snickered, turning to grab a wet towel from the bathroom.
   When you returned, Fives was back on the floor with Ekko on his chest, grinning as the toddler continued scribbling happily on his face. Ekko was now kicking his feet, speaking in his toddler language to an intently-listening Fives. With a sigh, you settled the towel on the dresser and laid down beside Fives. He reached over your hip, resting his hand comfortably on your thigh as you settled your cheek on his shoulder. 
   Ekko paused drawing on Fives’ face to raise his marker and happily say, “Blue. Daddy blue.” 
   “That’s right,” Fives beamed proudly, giving you a pointed look. “Look at him, already representing 501st blue. Cody's gonna hate this but Rex? Ah, he's going to piss himself crying when I tell him.” 
   “That man needs his own child,” you mumbled as you pressed your lips to Fives’ shoulder. “Or else he’s going to end up stealing ours.” 
   Fives snorted and rolled his eyes. Ekko giggled and quickly mimicked him, echoing the same snort and a half-attempted eye roll. 
   You smiled, playfully running your fingers up his leg to his chest before tickling him, earning a series of happy giggles. Fives kissed your forehead and looked back at Ekko with glistening eyes. 
   Even though two years had passed, it seemed as if he’d never get used to the marvelous fact that he had his own little replica of himself. Not a clone, but a blend of you both, created properly with parents who loved him in a world that was finally safe. 
   But, as much as Fives loved his son, he would always see a piece of someone else in Ekko. The face that had left him far too soon. The man whose chosen name was passed onto his nephew; a perfect decision now that Ekko had truly grown into his personality. Each day that passed, Fives saw more and more of his twin in his son’s eyes. They shared the same laughter; the same shy inclination towards mischief; the same knack to mimic others either intentionally or unintentionally. 
   It was heartwarming and Fives wouldn’t have it any other way… but it was a reminder of what he had lost in order to gain. 
   He talked to you about this, voicing a worry that he would one day come to turn Ekko away for looking and acting too much like Echo. He was afraid that Echo would become too much of a painful memory, preventing him from looking at his son without a gaze of loss. 
   I don’t know how to be a dad, he had said. I…I didn’t have one. The biggest father figure in my life was Rex but even that’s a stretch. What if I can’t do it? What if I’m going to miss something or do something that makes him hate me? You know how they get when they’re older… what if I mess up?
   What if…What if… What if…
   By now, it was instinct to know when he would fall into this train of thought. The silence was the first tip-off, and the subconscious way he’d seek your touch and hold you was the second. When his arm moved to loop around your shoulder, pulling you against the side of his torso, you knew that he was struggling and turned your head to look up. 
   “Fives,” you said softly, causing his eyes to open and flicker towards you. Ekko stood from his chest to seek out more markers, giving you a moment to prop yourself up on your elbow and press a kiss to Fives’ cheek. “You are a good father. He’s too young to tell you this, but what you’re doing? It’s enough. Just being here and doing this?” You playfully pinched his marker-covered cheeks. He softly smiled and swatted at your hand. “It means more than you know. You don’t need to have a father in order to be a good one. And he obviously loves you more than me.” 
   Ekko walked over just in time to hear the last part, causing him to furrow his brows and shake his head. 
   “No?” Fives dramatically gasped, splaying his hand over his chest. “No? So you’re telling me that mom’s better?” 
   Ekko hid his hands behind his back, shyly dipping his chin when he looked at you. You arched a brow, waiting for him to say yes, only for Ekko to suddenly shake his head and point at Fives. Slapping a hand over his mouth, he giggled into his palm when Fives let out a happy holler. You grinned and nodded, patting Fives’ chest for Ekko to sit back down. 
   “See?” You craned your neck to kiss Fives’ cheek. “Told you.” 
   Fives simply nodded, shifting his attention to Ekko as he roughly sat down. An oof slipped past Fives’ lips, twitching into a frown when Ekko raised a red and orange marker instead of blue. “What? Ad’ika, Daddy hates every color except blue.” 
   “Mommy doesn’t,” you smirked, tapping your cheek. “Tat me up, baby.” 
   Fives gave you a deadpanned stare, repeating, “Tat me up?” 
   You paused and sighed. “I’ve been spending too much time with the Corries.” 
   He nodded in agreement, smirking as Ekko uncapped the red marker with a sharp pop. He leaned over, drawing a squiggle up your cheekbone. As you giggled at the ticklish sensation, you caught Fives’ loving gaze and raised a hand, cupping his cheek and swiping your thumb across his goatee. 
   “I love you,” you said firmly, shifting your gaze to Ekko as he drew a circle in your cheek. “And I love you, baby boy. So, so, so much.” 
   Ekko sat back, pressed his lips into his palm, and blew you a kiss. You pretended to catch it and place it against Fives’ heart. 
   Fives chuckled and cupped the back of Ekko’s head, pulling him close to smack a brief kiss onto his forehead. Ekko smiled and continued writing along the side of your face, flashing you cheeky little grins whenever he caught your eyes. 
   “I don’t know what I did to deserve this,” Fives said softly so that only you could hear.
   “You don’t have to do anything to deserve something good in life. No one does.” 
   He chuckled. “Sure you’re not a Jedi? I swear, I think I heard Master Plo say something similar-” 
   You playfully pinched his nose, forcing him to breathe through his mouth. “Smartass.” 
   “Osik, baby,” Fives muttered nasally, reaching for your fingers. “You’re pinching hard-”
   Ekko immediately perked up, causing you to pale and Fives to break out in a big grin right before the toddler could scream out, “OSIK!”
   Fives howled out in laughter while you let out a deep, lamenting groan. 
   “THAT’S MY BOY!”
-
taglist ( + friends who might like this!)
@a-c-lee @eloquentmoon @frietiemeloen @misogirl828 @twistedstitcher27 @twinkofthedink @jedipoodoo @literallydontlook @corona-one @littlemousedroid @fett-djarin @rexxdjarin @pinkiemme
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snaillamp · 23 days
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Tea-saster
Cody turned into the driveway of the small property, looking at the tall, moss covered trees as they swayed. His aunt’s house was away from the road, cast in shadow as the trees swayed and creaked around him. Getting out of his car, he walked up to the silent house, his boots crunching one the gravel as he got to the house.His mother had called him, concerned about Rex, his cousin.
She had tried calling him and couldn’t get through, so she tried her sister, Rex’s mother Janey, but couldn’t reach her either. Knowing Cody lived close by, she had asked him to take a look, see of they were okay. Going up to the door, he knocked loudly, listening for a reply. “Rex? Aunty? You there?”
He heard their dog, Raven bark inside the house, so he tried the door. It creaked open into the dark house, that smelt strange, like burning herbs. “Aunty?” He called out, entering the house. The more usual stale smell of cigarette smoke began to dance around from under the smell of the burnt herbs as he made his way through the house.
“Aunty? Rex?”
“Cody? Come here baby!”
He heard the rough sound of his aunt’s voice grew louder as she came out of a nearby room, running over to him and wrapping him in a hug. “Aww, look at you, my little guy.” Cody laughed, moving his nose out of the way of her cigarette scented hair. “Aunty.” He grimaced, trying to avoid the harsh smell. “Hey, where’s Rexxy?” Janey looked up at Cody, messing with his hair. “Cody baby? How long have you growing your hair out? It’s so long. Awww, here let me braid it up for you, eh?”
Cody sighed, letting Janey drag him over to the sofa nearby. It was soft, but sagging slightly. Janey sat him down, before leaving for a second and coming back with a hairbrush. “You always had nice hair Cody. Shame you let your mother cut it when you were a kid.” Cody smirked, “Eh, I didn’t really have a choice. You know what she’s like.”
Janey scoffed, “Renee never cared about the body’s natural mechanisms, she always cut hers short too. She got Gramma’s shit hair though, you definitely inherited your father’s. His was always so shiny and thick.” Cody grimaced as Janey pulled the knots from his former ponytail, smirking when he grunted pain every time she yanked one out.
“Start from the bottom, hurts less.” He begged, listening to her click her tongue. “Quiet, I know what I’m doing.” ‘Yeah, you always do, don’t you…’ He thought as her fingers divided his hair into three pieces. “Aww, you’ll look so nice.” Janey cooed, pulling the strands of hair tightly together. “You know before stupid modern culture happened, everyone was more connected to the earth. Every culture in history had long hair, but then the modern, western society colonists came and cut it all, but even they had long hair. So they cut it to lose their connection to their mother, their land, their earth so they didn't feel the pain of hurting her.” Cody frowned at that sentiment, he wasn’t sure that historical anecdote what entirely correct.
“There, you’re lookin’ all natural and good now.” Janey said, patting Cody’s shoulders as she tucked the braid over his shoulder. “Thanks, Aunty.” “Hey, want some tea?” She asked quickly, standing up and going to the kitchen across the room. Cody knew she wasn’t gonna take no for an answer. “Yes?” He answered, apprehensively, watching her grab the tea leaves.
“You know you should drink more tea, it strengthens your connection to nature, and is like… full of detoxifying stuff.” She opened a drawer, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and lighting one. ‘She says as she lights a cancer stick…’ Cody groaned mentally. “Aunty, I’m gonna go to the bathroom.”
“Kay, baby.”
~~
Cody sighed, grateful to escape the dim main room, slowly filling with smoke. He threw his braid over his shoulder and looked in the mirror. Janey had done a good job, but it scared Cody how much he looked like his dad with his hair like this.Leaving the bathroom, he walked past the door Janey had come out of, Rex’s room. He knew it was Rex, cause Rex was the only one in the family who would dare to have a Vancouver Grizzlies poster taped to the front of his door.
“Cody?! Ya done pissing?” Janey’s voice broke his thoughts, right as he was reaching for the door. “Yeah, yeah… I’m coming.” He mumbled, loud enough the Rex might hear him from behind the door.
When he re-entered the room, Janey was already lighting another cigarette. “So, how’s my baby?” She asked, looking at him with tired eyes.
“Good.” Cody answered, sipping his tea. It tasted strange… like there was something in it. “Your mother said you collapsed at work a couple months ago. Some doctor you are.” Her voice was still concerned, but there was a masked bite to it.
Janey had never agreed with Cody becoming a doctor, leaving home and finding his own way. She had always said it would come back to bite him and he should learn real medicine: natural and traditional remedies.“Yeah, well that was different.” Cody blushed, looking back down at his tea. He really shouldn’t have gone to work with appendicitis, but that was his business.
“Nah. You’ve always put others before yourself.” Janey smiled, grabbing his hand and stroking it. “What’s that saying I heard some TV show say? We ruin our bodies so we can look after yours.” Cody laughed, pulling his hand back and sipping more tea. “Yeah, something like that. I like being a doctor though, it’s a big achievement for me.” Janey laughed, a low, rasping laugh, her teeth stained from decades of smoking. She took a drag of her cigarette and blew a cloud of smoke into the air.
“Yeah, ‘specially when you were such a menace in high school, eh?” Cody pulled his lips tight. “Don’t remind me.” They chatted, Cody finishing his tea. “Hey, so mum wanted to know where Rex was. She called him to come and fix her sink and couldn’t reach him.” Janey looked at Cody pulling her lips into a thin line. “My baby boy’s fine.” Cody smiled, nodding. “Good.” Janey looked suspiciously at him, as he cleared his throat of the strange tasting tea.
“Codes?”
A sick sounding voice appeared behind him. Turning a round, Cody looked at his cousin, traipsing down the hall slowly, looking far from well. “Oh, honeybun… Come here, have some tea.” Janey cooed, looking over at her sick son. “Sit, sit, let me get you a cup.” She offered him her seat and rushed back to the kitchen to make him some tea. “What is it this time?” Rex asked, looking apprehensive. “Peppermint tea isn’t doing anything.”
Janey shot him a look, “Sush, I got different tea this time. Try this, it’ll help with your breathing.” She tottered around the kitchen, throwing her cigarette in the sink whilst she did it. “Help me.” Rex mouthed at Cody, who nodded. “Hey Rex, how about I give you a quick checkover.” Cody said loudly. Rex nodded eagerly as Janey shot him a glare from the kitchen. “I told you, he’s fine. I’ve done all my research, trust me.” Rex groaned, causing Cody to smirk. “Well, I’m the one with a PhD so…”
Janey rolled her eyes. “Lording over me with your fancy piece of paper, hey?” Cody frowned as he began to take Rex’s pulse. “No, I just know what I’m doing.” “Oh, so I don’t?” Janey snapped. “You doctors are all the same never trusting the people who’ve done their research.” Cody sighed, “No, I never said you didn’t know what you were doing, all I said is I knew what I was doing.”
Janey huffed, rolling her eyes and brought the tea over. “There you go baby.” She murmured in Rex’s ear, kissing his cheek. “You know, the knowledge you have is just the propaganda pushed on you by Big Pharma, they made your textbooks you know."
Cody ignored her as he checked Rex out, his pulse was a little elevated, as was his breathing, plus he felt kind of warm. “You have a nasty cold by the looks of things.” He muttered, taking his seat again. “What’s been helping?” He asked, looking at Rex, who was flushed and sweaty. “Everything, been putting lavender and peppermint oil in his diffuser and it really helped his stuffy nose.” Rex rolled his eyes. “You also put potato peels in my socks mum. That didn’t do anything.” Cody frowned, looking at Janey confused. “Potatoes? In his socks?”
Janey shrugged, “My friend on Facebook recommended it. It did get rid of your watery eyes.” She poked Rex. “Yeah, that’s cause I begged you to stop burning sage all over the place. You shouldn’t even be buying that, white sage is endangered, its not even native to this part of the country.” Janey rolled her eyes. “It’s tradition though.” Rex shook his head, as if he’d had this argument a lot. “Not for us. Leave it to the people who’s practice it is mum.”
Raven suddenly came flying out of the other end of the house, barking and pawing at Rex. “Hey Raven… My baby girl, yes, you’re a good girl. Mhmm. Sit. Good girl.” He scratched the black lab behind the ears, as she groaned, flopping to the floor and exposing her tummy for rubs. Cody laughed as she stuck her tongue out, lapping up the attention from Rex.
“What’s your opinion on sage, Dr Hill?” Janey asked, emphasising the title of doctor and holding out her hand as if she were thrusting a microphone in Cody’s face. “Uhh, Rex is right. It’s not native to the Pacific Northwest, and it’s not our practice. Besides white sage is at risk because of over harvesting, it’s not something you should really be buying.”
Janey glowered at them both. “Of course you know everything.” She sighed, pushing the mug closer to Rex, who had begun coughing. “Drink up.” She pushed the tea closer again, and Rex grabbed it, sipping it a little. “Oh god. Mum what is that?” He asked, spitting the tea out into the cup. “Herbal tea. New one, not the peppermint.” Rex stuck his tongue out, before pushing it away.
“Please, baby, drink it for me.” Rex groaned, “Mother, I love you, but I am 24, I don’t need to be babied.” He grabbed the mug, chugging the foul tea. “There, I drank your damn tea.” He slammed the mug back down on the table.
“Ugh, fine go sulk.” Janey mumbled, looking down at Raven. “Wanna go outside girly?” She asked in a fake, high-pitched voice. Raven rolled over, looking excited as Janey stood, going to the back door. “I’m gonna grab another smoke. And I don’t wanna hear a peep from you about how its bad. Tobacco is natural.” She glared at Cody how sighed, shrugging.
“Not like that it’s not…” He mumbled, easing out of his chair and going to Rex’s room. He rubbed the back of his neck as he walked, it was feeling kinda stiff.
‘My fault for slouching all the time.’
He guessed.He knocked on the door, before peaking in.
“Hey Rexxy.” Rex looked up from his bed, looking pale. “Ugh… hey Codester. She gone all mama bear on ya yet?” Cody chuckled, shaking his head. “So potatoes in socks huh? That’s a new one.” Rex nodded, “Yeah, I’m worried she’s gonna start feeding me colloidal silver next. She’s in all these Facebook groups and they tell her all this BS about natural remedies… I don’t know man… I’m just sick of her bullshit. If she didn’t need so much help around the house, I really need to move out, but I can’t afford it right now…” He groaned, holding his stomach.
“You good?” Cody asked, taking a seat on a nearby desk chair in front of an impressive gaming setup. ‘Can’t afford or not saving up?’ Cody wondered.
Rex sighed, sitting up and looking at him. “Honestly, no. She’s been feeding me nothing but juice, vitamin tablets and natural, de-fluoridated, artesian spring water she bought from some online forum. She even took away my toothpaste and deodorant, now I have some activated charcoal bullshit and a weird putty to rub in my pits.”
Cody raised his eyebrows. “She’s gotten worse then?” Rex nodded, “Ever since dad left, she’s just gone down the natural medicine rabbit hole and started “reconnecting with our culture”. Man, she even threw out the microwave, cause of the radiation…”
Cody stroked his chin, thinking about their predicament. “I’ll try talking to her…” Rex groaned, rolling over. “Good luck.”
~~
Janey had heard her nephew enter the house and call out her name. At first she was elated, Cody never came over, but then her mind switched into gear. He was probably coming to check on her son. Her bitch of a sister had been calling him every couple days to get her taps fixed, and now she let her little shill of a son know he was sick.
She plastered on a smile, rushing out to see him, her mind already coming up with distractions. Her eyes clapped onto his long hair, pulled back into a low, sagging pony tail. He looked tired, as he gazed around the dark house. Janey ran up to him, wrapping him up in a hug and hearing a soft grunt as they collided. She was happy to see him again, he never came down to their Rez, especially now that he was a big fancy doctor. He thought he was too good for them now he had a fancy degree and stethoscope.
It’s not like she never saw him, but since she’d found the truth a few years ago, right after the divorce, her entire family had been distant. They saw each other around, but she never got a visit. Her mind was already suspicious. What if he tired to take Rex? Her son needed his medicine and healing oils, Cody would go and fill him with chemicals from dead babies and the government tracking chips.
He looked down at her, greeting her, his eyes still the same Cody he’d always been…
“Hey, where’s Rexxy?”
Janey looked up at Cody, messing with his hair as she smiled. ‘Not so fast, Mr Doctor.’ She thought, pulling his hair over his shoulders and smoothing it against his chest. “Cody baby? How long have you growing your hair out? It’s so long. Awww, here let me braid it up for you, eh?” She hauled him along and sat him down, rushing off to get Rex’s hairbrush and hair ties. She’d made sure to keep his hair as natural as possible.
As she brushed her nephew’s hair, she sighed as he winced. It was nice spending time with him, he’d always been her favourite nephew, he was just a little misguided by government propaganda. She could get through to him, show him how effective her treatments were of her son. Show him the truth.
“You know before stupid modern culture happened, everyone was more connected to the earth. Every culture in history had long hair, but then the modern, western society colonists came and cut it all, but even they had long hair. So they cut it to lose their connection to their mother, their land, their earth so they didn't feel the pain of hurting her.” It was true, she’d read it on Facebook and stuff. She could tell her doctor nephew wasn’t convinced.
“There, you’re lookin’ all natural and good now.” Janey said, patting her nephews shoulders as she tucked the braid over his shoulder.
“Thanks, Aunty.”
‘Awww, he’s still the polite one.’ She thought. Admiring him for a second, she thought about how her son was. It was about time to test her new water parsley tea.
“Hey, want some tea? She asked, excitedly rushing to the kitchen and finding the dried herbs in the cupboard she had left them. She rushed about, preparing the tea, only for Cody to get up and wander away. He said he needed to pee, so she had plenty of time. Excitedly brewing her tea, she poured out a cup for herself and Cody. She’d always test the medicine first, to make sure it worked before she gave it to her precious baby boy.
She called out for her nephew, “Cody?! Ya done pissing?” as she lit another cigarette. It filled her with a wave of euphoria, the sacred tobacco filling her lungs. Cigarettes were her answer right now, calming her nerves and getting her ready to have her medicine. As Cody re-entered the room, she found her hands opening the drawer and pulling out her other stash of cigarettes, lighting a new one to give them something to do. That other cigarette was pretty much done anyway.
“Your mother said you collapsed at work a couple months ago. Some doctor you are.” Janey probed. She had gotten the call from her sister all panicked one early morning asking if she could stay at her house that morning for a sleep before heading down the the hospital further south in Sawmill Inlet. Cody brushed it off. Janey frowned for a moment, worried that her nephew wasn’t looking after himself. She’d get Garret to send her some vitality veggie shots, get him some good nutrients to take and boost his immune system. The last thing she wanted was to see her nephew hurt.
“Nah. You’ve always put others before yourself.” Janey smiled, grabbing his hand and stroking it. “What’s that saying I heard some TV show say? We ruin our bodies so we can look after yours.” Cody laughed, pulling his hand back and sipping more tea. “Yeah, something like that. I like being a doctor though, it’s a big achievement for me.”
Janey laughed, ‘You spent years being brainwashed by the corporations, that’s not an achievement.’ She thought as took a drag of her cigarette and blew a cloud of smoke into the air. “Yeah, ‘specially when you were such a menace in high school, eh?” She thought back to Cody’s childhood.
He had been a good kid, until about 14. He’d gotten into the wrong crowd at school, smoking weed and getting drunk too often. It had caused too many fights with his parents, and he’d ended up living with Janey for a few weeks at one point when he was 16. It all came to a head when he was 17, when he had a little too much to drink and turned up on his mother's front door step barely conscious at 2am.
“Don’t remind me.” Cody mumbled as he grimaced. Janey wondered if that experience is what got him into medicine. He had always been smart, but he had no direction in life, like most kids like him out this way… But after that he’d changed, turned his life around and really grown up.
They chatted, Cody finishing his tea. “Hey, so mum wanted to know where Rex was. She called him to come and fix her sink and couldn’t reach him.” Janey looked at Cody pulling her lips into a thin line. “My baby boy’s fine.”
He began checking Rex over, but she spoke up. “Hold your ground against the sheep!" Rachel had told her. Rachel knew so much, she posted it all in the Natural Life for Women and their Families group.
She was the one who had taught her about the Big Pharma medicine companies brainwashing poor doctors like her nephew. This is exactly what Janey had been warned about. She thought about how the oils Rachel had sold her were working so well in the diffuser she’d just bough from her too…
However, Rex had other plans, “Codes?” He spoke up from behind them. “Oh, honeybun… Come here, have some tea.” Janey jumped up, her spine tingling, looking over at her sick son. “Sit, sit, let me get you a cup.” She glanced at Cody a she sat her son down, he looked worried. Rex was fine. Sure, he was pale and grey looking, sweaty, with reddened cheeks. Even his eyes looked kind of dull.
“What is it this time?” Rex complained. “Peppermint tea isn’t doing anything.”
’He doesn’t know what’s good for him.’ Janey thought.Janey shot him a look as she made up the tea, “Sush, I got different tea this time. Try this, it’ll help with your breathing.”
“Hey Rex, how about I give you a quick checkover.” Cody said loudly. Janey’s back straightened and she shot her nephew a glare from the kitchen. “I told you, he’s fine. I’ve done all my research, trust me.” Rex groaned, causing Cody to smirk. “Well, I’m the one with a PhD so…” Janey rolled her eyes. ’He thinks he’s so fucking good… He’s just like every other shill doctor.’
“Lording over me with your fancy piece of paper, hey?” She shot back as Cody frowned, replying quietly as he focused. “No, I just know what I’m doing.” Janey scoffed. “Oh, so I don’t?” Janey snapped. “You doctors are all the same never trusting the people who’ve done their research.”
Cody sighed, “No, I never said you didn’t know what you were doing, all I said is I knew what I was doing.”
Janey huffed, her voice changing to sweet and loving as she approached her son. “There you go, baby.” She murmured in Rex’s ear, kissing his cheek. “You know, the knowledge you have is just the propaganda pushed on you by Big Pharma, they made your textbooks you know.” Janey pointed out.
Cody ignored her, which was typical of doctors, because they thought they knew everything. They didn't know how mind controlled they were.
“You have a nasty cold by the looks of things.” He muttered, taking his seat again. “What’s been helping?” He asked, looking at Rex, who was flushed and sweaty. “Everything, been putting lavender and peppermint oil in his diffuser and it really helped his stuffy nose.” Janey explained proudly. She’d researched it all herself and figured so much out.
Rex rolled his eyes, but boys will be boys, of course, and he was her son after all… He was just going through his moody phase. “You also put potato peels in my socks mum. That didn’t do anything.” Cody looked at Janey, slightly shocked. “Potatoes? In his socks?”
Janey shrugged, “My friend on Facebook recommended it. It did get rid of your watery eyes.” She poked Rex, who fired back about her white sage. He’d been complaining about it for ages, but he wasn’t ass connected to tradition as her. She would educate him. And Cody. Both of them…
“It’s tradition though.” She shook her head at Rex as she took his hand. “What’s your opinion on sage, Dr Hill?” Janey asked, as Rex played with Raven, who had come bounding out of her room. She was a slightly fat, old black Labrador, and an absolute angel. She made their lives infinitely better.
“Uhh, Rex is right. It’s not native to the Pacific Northwest, and it’s not our practice. Besides white sage is at risk because of over harvesting, it’s not something you should really be buying.” Janey clicked her tongue at them both.
“Of course you know everything.” She sighed, pushing the mug closer to Rex, he had to drink and stop his coughing soon. The tea would work, she’d done it all right so far… “Drink up.”
Rex sighed in annoyance, grabbed the tea, and drank. He was such a good boy. Janey could make him better… This would fix him. “Oh god. Mum what is that?” He asked, spitting the tea out into the cup. “Herbal tea. New one, not the peppermint.” Rex stuck his tongue out, before pushing it away.
“Please, baby, drink it for me.” Rex groaned, “Mother, I love you, but I am 24, I don’t need to be babied.” He grabbed the mug, tipping it back and swallowed the entire mug in a few gulps. He was lucky it was cooled down or he’d burn himself. Janey quizzed herself quickly on how to an internal burn… Aloe Vera juice. Rex however, slammed the mug down, glaring at her.
“There, I drank your damn tea.” Boys were so temperamental, especially when they were sick. ’Poor baby must be feeling worse today…’ Janey reasoned.
“Ugh, fine go sulk.” Janey mumbled, choosing not to have that fight again… Rex just didn’t know what was good for him. Like when he used to refuse to eat his vegetables when he was 6. She needed another smoke, Rex was stressing her out, his being sick for almost two weeks had caused her to almost triple her cigarette intake. But tobacco was sacred and natural and good and was a gift to humanity and she needed it to decompress. She deserved a cigarette for getting through that tough morning with Rex…
Raven grunted, rolling over. “Wanna go outside girly?” Janey asked asked in a fake, high-pitched voice. Raven rolled over again, looking excited as Janey stood, going to the back door. “I’m gonna grab another smoke. And I don’t wanna hear a peep from you about how its bad. Tobacco is natural.” She snapped at Cody. He was ripping her family apart right now. It was all his fault, he’d upset Rex and made him think he was seriously sick.
Cody disappeared, presumably to go and brainwash her son. She didn't even care, nothing Cody would do could help. She was doing the right thing by Rex and keeping him safe at home with her, so he couldn’t be hurt by the outside world and everyone in it…
Eventually Cody came outside, sitting down next to her. Closer up in the light, she could see he looked tired, rings under his eyes and slightly hollow cheeks. See? This doctor job was destroying his sacred body too… Her poor Cody.
Finding Janey outside, watching Raven chase her tail, Cody sidled up to her. “What do you want?” She asked, looking at him. “Nothing. Just wanna ask how you’re feeling.” Janey sucked on her cigarette, thinking. “Eh, fine.”
Cody sighed, sliding down the wall. He was feeling kinda weird. “Well I don’t think you are.” He countered. “I think you feel out of control of your own life. I think you’re afraid everyone’s gonna leave you like Henry.” Janey scoffed, flicking her cigarette to the ground and snuffing it out.
“Don’t talk to me about him. That bastard can go fuck himself.” Cody nodded, swallowing the saliva accumulating rapidly in his mouth. “I just want you to know that we all care about you, and that we can help you. The family, the community around you. You don’t have to punish yourself for that jackass leaving.” Janey sighed, sliding down the wall to join him, putting her head in his shoulder. “I hate when you do that.” She muttered.
Her hands were trembling slightly as she reached for another cigarette. “Do what…?” Cody murmured, clearing his throat again. It was starting to prickle. “Your doctor talk…” Janey had replied whilst Cody was slightly distracted with his tingling throat. Frowning, he wrapped his arm around his aunt, kissing her forehead. “You love me, and I love you, and that will never change.” He whispered. “But I want you to be happy. This isn’t it, Aunty.” Janey shook her head, getting up and going inside. “Yeah. Maybe. Sometimes you just gotta say fuck the world though, eh?”
Cody rolled his eyes, admitting defeat, until he heard Rex from inside. He was coughing badly. Janey was already in his room, switching on the diffuser again. Cody took one look at him and shook his head, barging into the room. “Come on man, we need to get you some medicine.” Janey ran over to them as Cody pulled Rex out of his bed and helped him walk down the hall.
“But he’s fine I’m managing it all by myself. I don’t need your chemicals, he needs be at home, with me!” She grabbed at Cody, who whirled around, getting dizzy. “The only place we’re going is the pharmacy. He needs medicine or he will get sicker and sicker, and then he might die. Do you want that Janey? Do you want your only son to die?” He looked at her, his hardened stare boring into her own. He didn’t want to be harsh on her, but this was getting ridiculous.
“You take him, I will never talk to you again! YOU CAN’T TAKE MY ONLY FAMILY I HAVE LEFT!” She grabbed Rex’s shaking hand, pulling him towards her. Rex groaned, dropping to the floor. “Mum… Please…” His body convulsed as he threw up at her feet.
Kneeling down, Cody leaned Rex against the wall, his own head swooning as he looked at his cousin. His eyes were weird, his pupils dilated wide. Swallowing more saliva, Cody gasped as he felt Rex’s pulse, it was way too fast. “Hey buddy, can you squeeze my hand?” He asked, concerned. Rex squeezed Cody’s hand weakly, as Janey stood still, watching with suspicion.
Cody shook his head, trying to rid it of the weird lightheaded-ness. Looking at his own hands, he realised they were trembling and everything was way too bright, even inside the dim house. Rex was groaning, holding his stomach and mumbling nonsense. Cody’s eyes widened, he had seen these symptoms before, a hippie had been rushed into his ED a few years ago, after eating wild herbs…
“Aunty… What was that tea you gave us?” He asked, his voice weak and hollow with dear. Janey looked at him, her pupils were fine “Water parsley, why?” Cody felt a chill run down his spine. “How did you get it?” Janey smiled, looking proud, she clearly hadn’t put two and two together. “Picked it myself. Dried it out and made it into tea for Rex. It supposed to help with his breathing.” Cody stood shakily, “Show me.”
He followed his aunt to the kitchen, watching as she began pulling a small bundle of dried plants out from a cupboard. Cody raced over, his vision tilting as he looked closely at it. “Shit, Aunty… This isn’t water parsley. That has flatter, whole leaves. This looks a lot like it, but this… This is hemlock.”
~~
A chill went down Janey’s spine… ’Did I just poison my babies?’ She thought, as she watched Cody stagger over to Rex, slinging an arm around her almost unconscious son and haul him up. He was quite a bit bigger than Cody, who was already struggling to hold him up in his weakened state…
“We need to go Stoney Creek, now!” Cody grunted, as he held Rex, looking to Janey. The two men staggered towards the door, as Janey followed, dazed. “Wait, come back, please.” His vision was blurring as his ears rang. He felt so woozy, but he had to keep going. He couldn’t get Rex to his car and an ambulance would take to long… Rex was getting heavy to carry, as Janey came up behind the slowing men, watching them closely.
“Aunty, did you drink any of the tea?” Cody asked, coughing slightly. She shook her head, “I was busy with my cigarette, then forgot after the whole sage thing.” Cody sighed in relief, “Good, you gotta drive us to the hospital in Stoney, please!” He fished his keys from his pocket with clammy, shaking hands.
Janey stood frozen in shock, staring at the keys. “Aunty! Please!” Cody desperately begged, looking a strange colour as sweat covered his skin. Her mind was reeling. She had poisoned her son. He was going to die and it was all her fault…
Cody groaned in exasperation, shoving his keys into his aunt’s hand and grabbing her wrist, dragging both Rex, who was half passed out, and Janey, as fast as he could towards the front door.
He pushed it open, stumbling to his car and throwing Rex in the back, Janey climbing into the front seat and shoving the keys into the ignition after failing a few times due to shaking hands. Cody adjusted the now unconscious Rex, yelling at Janey to drive as the car rumbled to life, speeding off down the driveway and onto the main, winding road.
Cody wanted nothing more than to collapse to the floor of the car, and rest his eyes, but he had to make sure Rex was breathing. He was… His pulse… was… there… Cody was struggling to find it. His vision seemed to be two seconds behind his eye movements… He was seeing things, shadowy figures in the corner of his eyes, hearing whispers of strange words in a language he didn’t understand... But it felt familiar.... Gasping for air, he slumped in the seat, glancing around at Rex. At least he had thrown up his tea, Cody wasn’t sure he’d be able to, something was stopping him.
Cody heard Rex cough. Groaning, his eyes fluttered, reaching over to his cousin, shoving him to keep him awake. “Rex, buddy… come on… stay awake for me… Nhhh…” He felt bile thrashing in his stomach, but it wouldn’t come up. He was slumped in the back seat, next to Rex, leaning heavily against the door as he battled to stay awake. He wasn’t going to let Rex die, not on his watch.
The car took a sharp corner, it was speeding so fast, it made Cody queasy… Somewhere in the back of his mind he cringed at the idea of having to clean up puke from his car… It wasn’t nice, but puke smell was worse…
Cody felt his stomach drop, his racing heart suddenly jumping in his chest, throwing up a little. He swallowed it, his head pounding as he felt the turn throw him against Rex’s shoulder. He tried to lift his head, but Cody’s eyes rolled back as went limp in the back seat.
~~
A car screeched into the small parking lot in front of the Stoney Creek Hospital. Dr Melanie White looked around, frowning, that car looked like Cody’s car. It was a black four wheel drive car, modded, with a deep rumbling engine… the sound was unmistakable… A slight chill went down her spine. Something told her something was wrong.
She frowned when a woman got out. She was native, short and chubby, with long hair tied back in a braid. She bolted to the passenger door and dragged out a young man. Short black hair was plastered to his skin, which looked grey and clammy. Melanie yelled for Vanessa and Dan, the two nurses on shift to come help, her feet already moving towards the door. The woman was struggling to lift the man, who was quite heavy himself. She was screaming for help, trying to pull the man over the car park towards the door.
Melanie raced up to the woman, grabbing the young man’s feet and lifting them. “Hey, I’m Melanie, can you tell me your name?” The woman looked at her with panicked eyes. “Jane Aubrey! Please help my son! He’s poisoned!” She was hysterical. Melanie looked at her eyes, her green ones meeting Jane’s brown ones. “Jane. I’m going to help him okay? Let’s get him inside.”
The sound of feet running up to behind them stopped as Dan and Vanessa both came and helped carry the unconscious man into the ER. They got him up onto the bed, as Melanie grabbed her stethoscope and listened for a heart beat. It was there… Pounding away.
“What’s his name?” She asked Jane. “Rex…” Jane murmured, her voice wobbling. She was pacing back and forth, ensuring that they were looking after him, before dashing back out to the car. Everyone glanced at her as she looked into the back seat.
“Oh no… There’s another one…” Dan murmured, going to follow her, before a devastated, heart broken howl ripped through the air. Jane dropped to her knees, screaming as Dan rushed out, freezing when he looked inside. He grabbed the unconscious person from the back of the car, slinging them over his shoulder and carrying them in fireman style.
“IT’S CODY!” He screamed, looking horrified. Everyone looked at him as he lay their colleague down on the bed, tears brimming in his eyes. Cody was a strange blue, grey colour, his body limp and chest still… He wasn’t breathing. Melanie felt her heart tear itself in two… They didn't have enough people to manage two patients, poisoned like this. “Van…Van I need you to manage that patient.” Melanie ordered with a shake in her voice, Dan already pumping Cody’s chest with his hands. Melanie forced herself to put ‘doctor’ mode on. For Cody. For Rex.
It didn’t make sense in her head though. Cody had left an hour before, happy and tired. They’d had a good day. Not many patients, all the patients they had were good. Cody had been joking around with Dan about smashing his ass in basketball this weekend, and now he was lying on a bed, basically dead…Madeline looked at Jane, who was pacing around, anxious. “Hey! Jane! What’s poisoned them?” Jane looked shocked at the yelling, shaking her head as she tried to remember.
~~
’I killed my son. I killed my son. I killed my son. I killed my son. I killed my son. I killed my son. I killed my son. I killed my son. I killed my son. I killed my son. I killed my son. I killed my son. I killed my son. I killed my son. I killed my son. I killed my son. I killed my son.’
It was all Janey could think as she drove, glancing back and looking at Cody, who was trying to keep Rex’s head tilted back. He seemed to be struggling to stay conscious.
’What have I done…’ She asked herself as she drove.
Making it to the carpark she went back and grabbed Rex, someone running out. Her mind could only focus on her son. Was he alive? Will they be able to save him? If they worked with Cody… they were probably good at their jobs right? Cody had kept him going… She could trust him… Right?
Suddenly she remembered her nephew… They didn’t know about Cody. She had to get him! Bolting out of the ER, she ran to the open car and found Cody lying face down on the car seat. He was grey and washed out, his fingers blue and body still… He looked dead… He was dead. He wasn’t breathing… He was dead…
Dead.
Dead.
Dead.
Dead.
She had killed her nephew.
Her sister would never forgive her.
She would never feel his warm hugs or hear his laugh again.
Someone picked him up. She didn’t know where they had come from.
Someone was wailing. Screaming, sobbing, crying for them to help in as she followed them in a daze.
Cody is dead.
Cody is dead.
Cody is dead.
Cody is dead.
Cody is dead.
Cody is dead.
Cody is dead.
A guy began CPR on Cody, whilst a lady yelled.
“What’s poisoned them?”
Janey froze, her brain not processing what she had said. The next thing she realised, the woman was in her face, looking at her squarely, arms on her shoulders. “What happened Jane?”
Janey shook her head, her mouth talking whilst her brain kept repeating the truth.
’I killed my boys… I killed my boys… I killed my boys…’
“H-H-Hem-m-mlock…” She said, somehow. The next thing she knew Rex was spewing a black liquid all over the floor, her poor baby… But he was alive. Her heart soared with joy as she rushed over to her son, turning to glance at Cody. They had cut off his clothes, his chest exposed and covered in wires and pads. He looked dead. He was dead…
The white lady, the doctor left Rex’s side and took over from the nurse compressing his chest as his body limply moved from the impact. There was a tube down his throat now… The doctor put it there…
Was she safe?
Safe to treat her nephew?
Was Janey safe to be around?
If they brought him back… Would he still love her?
Janey wanted to drink all the hemlock tea in the world right now, to take his place and give him his life back. She would do it without a second thought.
~~
“Come on Cody… You can do it, don’t give up yet.” Melanie whispered as she continued pumping his chest. He remained still and limp as Melanie stepped back, letting Dan take over CPR. She ordered Vanessa to prepare to pump his stomach, getting the toxin out.
“There’s no cure for hemlock… We just have to pray he makes it.” She added, looking at his face… He was gone… The life was ebbing from his body as the toxin stole it from him.
The world was a blur as she ordered the tubes to be put down his throat, and medicines to be injected into Cody’s lifeless body, CPR had been carried out for only 5 minutes, but it felt like 5 years.
She kept glancing at Rex, who seems to be coming around. Focusing on Cody beneath her, she began to clean his stomach of the killer tea, CPR stopping for a few precious seconds and the contents of his stomach came out of his body and onto their feet. They couldn’t care less as they went back to pumping his chest and and.. and…
A beep.
The ECG!
Melanie glanced at the ECG. Ventricular fucking fibrillation… After 9 minutes of CPR… Cody was still fighting.
“Okay, get ready to shock, 200 joules.” Melanie began the checklist. “Continue compressions. Oxygen away… All others clear.” Her v, her best ice caught in her throat as she neared the button that she was going to use to shock her friend, her colleague… Cody…
“Charging to 200… Vee confirm?”“Confirming 200.”
“Clear.”Her voice shook as she checked Cody’s exposed body, just in case anyone was touching him and could be shocked… And pressed the button.
Cody’s body jolted violently and a strange, quiet grunt escaped from his throat. Vanessa jumped back on his bruised chest as they did more CPR. “Come on Cody…” Melanie whispered. “Come on… Come on… You can do it.”
They shocked him again. Melanie had never liked shocking people, but it was horrific when they were someone she knew, and even worse that it was Cody. His body stiffened as it jerked, a strangled gasp escaping his chest… The shock flashing through him, the lighting of life.
Everyone watched as the rhythm changed, Melanies fingers already on his neck. She cried out in relief.
“PULSE!”
She collapsed to the floor sobbing, as Vanessa continued to treat him. “Get up Mel, you gotta keep going.” She was blunt, but right.
~~
Janey watched the doctor and nurses do CPR on her nephew in horror. The way they caved in his chest… and how his body remained limp under them, only moving as they jostled and stabbed him with needles. They had cut his shirt off seconds after he hit the bed, exposing his now purple and black chest to the light. The bruising was awful… nut the shock was worse.
Cody had jerked and stiffened awkwardly, grunting in what she assumed was pain. ’Oh fuck… can he feel this? Is he conscious for this?’ She thought as she sat beside Rex, who was only now beginning to gain consciousness. It was good he didn’t have to see Cody, a man Rex considered his brother going through this.
They shocked him again, and his limbs jerked one more, a quieter grunt escaping him… And then they got a pulse. The lady doctor collapsed to the ground, tears rolling down her face, only to set back up and immediately get to work. Janey breathed a sigh of relief… Her nephew was alive! He was alive and breathing and his heart was beating and…
A quiet cry emerged from her as she sobbed… Cody will live… He had to…
~~
Melanie sat with Cody watching him breathe. It was slow and laboured, but at least he was still breathing. Rex was lucky, his sickness had made him throw up the tea before it had too much of an effect on him, Cody hadn’t been as lucky. He looked terrible, his skin pale and cold as he lay there, effectively dying in front of her. Rex was sleeping off his fever, which was just as well, he probably wouldn’t have wanted to see Cody deteriorate.
“I wanna try more charcoal.” She spoke up, Vanessa nodding and bringing more over. They lay Cody on his side, inserting another tube and administering the charcoal. They observed him for a while, keeping track of his heart rate on the monitor. “It’s still fast, and he hasn’t had a seizure, so that’s a good sign.” Vanessa read off her phone.
Melanie nodded, “My journal article said the same thing. Hopefully he pulls through without any permanent damage.”
Suddenly, Cody gagged, his body convulsing as he choked on the tube. Melanie and Vanessa jumped into action, pulling the tube up and out of Cody’s stomach. He shuddered, throwing up a black, watery sludge. Gasping, he opened his eyes, trying to catch his breath, before he threw up again. Vanessa rubbed his back as he emptied his guts three or four times into Melanie’s sick bucket that she had materialised from seemingly nowhere. He began shivering, the colour returning to his face a little as he coughed up more charcoal.
“Cody… Thank God, I thought we’d lost you.” Cody sighed, his eyes rolling back as he closed them, a slight whisper dancing from his lips. “It’s gonna… take a… hell… of a lot… more… than that… to take… me out…” He looked concerned as a hand gingerly cradled his chest. “Rex?” He croaked.
Melanie looked over at Cody’s cousin. “Fine, he’s sleeping off his fever, We gave him some antibiotics that seem to have helped a bit.” Cody nodded, curling up and closing his eyes.
~~
Cody awoke to extreme pain. His chest felt tight and bruised as he choked on something slithering out of his mouth, quickly followed by puke…
In his haze he heard someone say they’d nearly lost him… His chest felt like he’d been crushed under a steam roller, nausea filling his mind as he gazed around, and tried to swallow. His mouth was try and acidic from puke, but all.
He could think about was Rex.
Melanie was next to him.
She said he was fine… He’d puked out the tea he was lucky he wasn’t more poisoned than he had been…
Cody was too tired to think as someone said something about a helicopter to Vancouver.He could talk about it when he had slept. He would’t mind a trip to Van… Stanley Island was always nice this time of year.
~~
~ 5 months later ~
Rex came out of the house as Cody pulled up. “Hey brother, how was work today?” Cody smiled tiredly, “The usual. How you feeling little cuz?” Rex breathed in deeply through his nose. “Good, started working out a little today, just went for a walk, that’s all.” Cody ruffled his hair and chuckled as he walked inside, collapsing on the sofa with a tired groan. “Why do I keep signing up for 48 hour shifts?”
Rex laughed, going to the kitchen and set to work making coffee. “Oh, by the way, your kitchen sink was leaking so I tinkered around, think I fixed it.” Cody looked up from the sofa, “Wait, really? I’ve been trying to get that fixed for months, Darell kept dodging my calls.” Rex rolled his eyes, “Darrell doesn’t like working unless he absolutely has to. Call me, man, can give ya a family discount too!” Cody shook his head, his cousin had been a plumber for six years, why hadn’t he ever called him?
“Hey, so… I wanna get your opinion on something.” Cody blinked sleepily, looking at his cousin/roommate. “Shoot.” Rex sighed, looking out the nearby window. “I wanted to go see mum, ya know just to check on her. I worry about her now that I’ve moved out”
Cody lay back, thinking about it. His aunt had been living alone since Rex had moved in with him, a few months after the now infamous ‘Tea Accident.’ He didn’t really want to see her, after the whole poisoning him thing, he didn’t have any bad permanent damage, but the CPR had done a number on him for a while, as well ass the fact his muscles did feel weaker and he was getting migraines more often… He got tired faster too…
Maybe that would fade with time, but he just didn’t know if he could face her right now. He knew his aunt didn’t mean to do it, but he was just done with all the chaos she brought into his life... But he missed her too.
“That’s your call Rex. I don’t think you should or shouldn’t go, she’s your mum, but… Just keep yourself safe, hey?” Rex nodded, “I know she still believes in all that stuff, but when I called her she said she missed me and hoped I was doing well, and I… I miss her Codes.”
Cody nodded, his eyes sliding shut as he slumped a little on the sofa. “Your choice buddy. I’ll go with you if you want.” Rex looked up at his sleepy cousin, smiling gratefully. “I think that’d be a good idea…”
Cody moaned softly in reply, as Rex walked over and poked him. “Hey, let me help you up. You’re always going on about me sleeping on the couch being bad for my neck, I’m not letting you do it.” Cody smiled, cracking his eyes open a little. “Fine…”
He felt his cousin help him stand, walking him to his room and tucking him in. “I’ll wake you up for dinner, okay?” Cody nodded, rapidly falling asleep.
Somewhere deep down, he was glad that he would be woken up for dinner, because he could wake up at all.
~masterlist~
~taglist~
@i-eat-worlds
@emcscared-whumps
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graylinesspam · 1 year
Text
An excerpt from a story I've been writing about Ahsoka exploring togruta lore in order to connect with her heritage. And also acting as a jedi delegate speaking with a lost traditionalist togruta tribe.
when their ships landed at the edge of the village they were met with a line of armed men. Their lekku were all warm shades ranging from a deep magenta to a bright yellow. Their weapons were traditional. The repurposed tools and hunting knives and spear were held in tight but lowered grips. Though they wanted to show strength to the invaders they did not want to show aggression. Not a curled lip or an exposed fang could be found on their faces. 
In the center of the delegation was an elder not as old as the ones she'd befriended from the green lek tribe, but his montrals were tall and his lekku were wide. His skin showed the wear of sun and labor. 
"Will they attack?" Mundi asked after she'd taken the time to assess their welcome party. 
"I don't think so," Ahsoka said. "But why don't you let me go first?"
Mundi nodded to the front of the ship and the gunship doors slid open. Ahsoka stepped off the ship first; her choice to go barefoot had raised several eyebrows but she was glad for the opportunity to ground herself. Her beaded ankle bracelets flashed for a moment as she stepped down into the tougher, reedier grass. 
As she took two tentative steps forward Rex and Echo exit the gunship behind her. Their boots made loud crunching noises as they trampled the grass. Master Mundi and one of the three delegates from Cerea filled out the right side of the ship. 
The men in a line before her studied the group carefully, apprehensive looks were cast to the clone troopers and, with cautious recognition, to the Cereans. But it was the sight of Ahsoka that caught all of their attention. 
She was the shortest among them but she stood in the lead. Every man there shot quick glances at her murmurs growing across the line. 
The Elder had eyes only for her. He separated from the line, his palms open in front of him. He and Ahsoka approach each other drawn across the no man's land like magnets. 
They met in the middle palms laid flat against each other and heads turned until they lay cheek to cheek. "Welcome sister," his voice hummed richly through his chest. There was a warm sort of familial feeling that overtook her in response. 
"I am honored to see you elder," she replied In the people's language. Hoping beyond hope that her pronunciation wasn't mangled.
"You bring many with you today. Those that resemble the troublemakers. And men in much armor. Do you bring conflict to us?" He asked with much patience in both the speed and tone of his words. Speaking slowly the way Ahsoka had to accommodate her.
"No. I have brought peace with me. Those that have trouble with you have called to me to speak. So that there will be no conflict. They come with great respect but also urgency."
The elder holds her hands in a loose grip between them as he pears around Ahsoka's shoulders, suspicion in his eyes. But it isn't Mundi or the Cereans he is looking at. It is Rex and Echo.
"You bring peace, but you bring soldiers in much armor with great weapons?"
Ahsoka is somehow blindsided by the accusation. It simply hadn't occurred to her that the sight of blasters or clone armor would seem aggressive to the lost tribe here. 
Ahsoka scrambled for a reason that would make sense to these people without a twenty minute backstory about Mandalorians and the galactic war.
She glanced back at Rex and the excuse came to mind easily. Something that she'd pondered idly in a childish bid to have more connection with her culture in a religion that didn't foster much; and in an environment where she didn't even need a full hand to count the amount of people that looked like her. 
She raised an open palm over her shoulder and quickly flashed a mandalorian hand signal she'd used a hundred times to direct her troops. With practiced efficiency Rex and Echo strode either of her flanks and stood once more at rest. Both visors trained stoically forward.
"Revered elder, this is Rex, my hunting partner. And his brother Echo. It is the way of their people to remain armed but they follow my lead. My orders. They're loyalty brings me great honor."
The elder looked shocked. He inspected Rex closely peering into the black of his visor to try to see into his heart.
"Rex, take off your helmet, lower your head to the elder." It was the first time she'd spoken in basic since exiting the ship but Rex didn't need any context to follow her order.
He removed his helmet and ducked his shoulders so the shorter man could peer into his eyes.
The elder searched him trying to weigh his gaze against the unfamiliar danger of the weapons on his hips. Trying to determine what sort of man she was bonded to.
Ahsoka knew both men were confused by the interaction. The title she'd given Rex, hunting partner, bhat sa'behm, was sacred and it had no equivalent outside of Togruta society.
A hunting partner was a life bonded friend. Usually someone you grew up with, someone you'd learned to read better than anyone else. Someone who could get lost in the grass and shadows of Shili but remain by your side. With no words between you and no wasted breath. Some said hunting with another for a long time bonded your souls in the next life. Ensured you would be reborn in the same body. Two halves made whole.
She supposed her and Rex were close enough to that. Though what they hunted were droids. And she wasn't convinced reincarnation was real. They still had an unmatched read on each other. She'd rather have him at her back than anyone.
Finally satisfied with peering into Rex's soul the elder turned back to her. "He is wise in this life. But his soul is young." he determined. "You are not. An old spirit in a young body." he said with a chuckle. "perfectly suited."
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djarrex · 1 year
Text
The Gray
Captain Rex x f!reader
masterlist | read on ao3
He’s had enough of black and white, so Rex leans into the gray.
18+ only | about 3.3k words | smut. umbara mention. rex is discovering how to cope with everything. kind of angsty. this was sort of inspired by the song The Grey by Thrice. might throw out a part two someday / eventually.
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There's the black, and there’s the white. But Rex has found another way – hands unintentionally grasping at something unprecedented. On the outside, and to all of his men, Rex isn’t known to or expected to stray from regulation, but something about the way you make him feel has him walking a dangerous line – dipping a toe into the gray. 
On one end of the spectrum is his duty – the black – the reason why breath fills his lungs in the first place.
It's the undeniable truth that Captain Rex is one of a thousand upon thousands of others who were created for the sole purpose of soldier – men with genetic enhancements that make them qualified for such, long before their accelerated development. He can still remember the very first time he saw battle, which was also the first time he saw terrain that was the complete opposite from the planet–the home–where he’d been trained for a decade. 
Sand – it was everywhere. In his boots, in the barrel of his blaster, in his lungs. The sunlight was harsh and hot, and the air was dry. It felt as if he’d entered another dimension, one alternate from the torrential, overcast, ocean world he’d come to call home, a place where he’d drank in a quenching air that had cooled his internal temperature with every breath. The sound of rain constantly crashing against the domes had grown on the up-and-coming captain, filling him with a sense of peace at the end of a long day training for the leadership role he’d inevitably play.
That sense of peace, the only one he’d truly ever known, hadn’t been present when he felt he needed it the most. That complete change of terrain, paired with the first tangible experience of firing at real hostiles, had been the very first eye-opener for the budding commanding officer. 
Ever since that first battle, Rex has looked straight into the eyes of death more times than he can count. Blood and shouts and those final glances directed his way from beneath the buckets – the way his men look to their captain before meeting their fate – have been long ingrained in his bones. It’s something that can never be erased. 
But the pain sure as hell subsides when he’s with you.
That’s the other end of the spectrum – the white – a glimmer of light that guides him through the dark.
You take his pain – his deeply buried fears, regrets, and treacherous ideas – and absorb it all so that Rex may feel a semblance of peace. Even if only for a short while, and even if it causes his eyes to open in the direction of something bigger than what he’s been told he’s fighting for.
Those treacherous ideas of his – they include life. The real thing, not in the way his heart began to beat because some government body had or hadn’t given the order to make it so. With you, Rex feels alive. He feels and even sees a life outside of everything. He could meet a fate worse than death should anyone become privy to his thoughts – his feelings for you and what they’re making him think – but he accepts the risk. 
Nobody can know. Nobody can know just how good the two of you are together. Nobody can know how well you take him, how sweetly he speaks to you when in the safety of your arms, how your body accepts him like it was made for him. Rex may have been the one constructed in a laboratory, but he feels as though he’s met the one person who was created just for him. 
You’re his escape. You’re the reason why Rex is able to stay so strong. When on the front lines–the absolute epitome of the front lines, with the Jedi general he serves under–he’s invincible. Even though you’re not physically there with him in battle, you’re an added layer of armor, stronger than the plastoid he dons. You’re there with him in the trenches – by his side when holding a fading brother’s hand as they take their last breath. That dying soldier could be Rex, but he makes it out every time because of you. He makes it out because he has to – to get back to you – to see and feel you again. 
He could perish out there and no longer feel guilt for the tremendous loss – or how he’s in love with a civilian, someone he’d abandon duty for if at all feasible. His life could end with one blaster shot fired at him just the right way, that way he’d never have to come to you for consolation again, but it doesn’t. Rex continues on – lives with the pain that only you can soothe.
It’s not so simple anymore. Not only has Rex seen glimpses at what life could look like outside a warzone, he’s felt too much loss to want to come to the widely accepted justification of the war’s endgame. 
What’s the purpose of all this?
Rex never used to feel so torn over his purpose. Maybe something’s wrong with him, he thinks. Maybe he is defective – a malfunction in his design that causes the trooper to dream of you and to miss you, and to think about things other than war. 
One day, this war is going to end. But what will happen to us then? We’re soldiers.
From the outside, Rex is either loyal or a traitor – though Rex doesn’t truly believe those are the only two routes. Not anymore.
There’s more to life than this.
He’s had enough of black and white, so Rex leans into the gray. 
-
He comes to you every time, without fail. 
For a man burdened with the weight of massive allegiance and responsibility to his duty, Captain Rex always makes it back to you. It could be days, weeks, months – time doesn't matter. He’ll always message you from his private frequency, one he has encrypted and hidden behind multiple passkeys, to let you know when he’s back on-world.
Most of the time, he comes to you after finishing up hours and hours of reports and debriefings. He’ll come to you an exhausted, worn down soldier with armor muddied up or scuffed with plasma markings from baster fire that had just skimmed by him. Underneath it all, when the walls come down and his armor with it, Rex is vulnerable – tired. He’s tired of all the fighting, the loss, the guilt. In moments like those, he seeks only one thing:
You.
Sometimes he wants to talk. Other times, he wants to hold you, and to be held, wordless, laying there with all lights extinguished. And then there are times when Rex wants nothing more than to get lost in the way you feel – in the pleasure he can give you – the sounds and sensations you grace him with. 
When he’s feeling the latter, it can be slow and passionate.
Rex will unclasp and remove all his armor, stacking it neatly in a corner you had designated for it all long ago. You’ll remove your clothing while he does that, and then gently remove the underclothes from his battle-hardened body. He’ll lean in to kiss you, deeply, and grab his favorite parts of you tenderly. Sometimes, the two of you make it into the shower, Rex letting you wash him, running your hands down his body, paying extra attention to his cock. You’ll get on your knees for him, taking care of the man you love with each inch passing between your lips.
He’ll cum down your throat – 
"Gods, you're so beautiful like this, on your knees for me, taking care of me. 'M gonna cum, baby – and you're gonna swallow it all, yeah? That's my good, sweet girl."
– Or will stave it off so he can take you right there in the steamy stall of the refresher, your back against the moistened wall with your leg hitched up against his hip, your foreheads mashed together as Rex thrusts into you slowly. 
"I wanna feel you cum, sweet girl. Please."
Two fingers strum your clit and his name is breathed from your lungs on repeat until you’re cumming around him, granting him his own release once he feels the way you tighten and writhe with your climax.
It'll be silent after that – wordless under the soft spray of water cascading over the two of you.
Rex will follow you into your bed, hands clinging to you in the dark room until you're both collapsing into the sheets, and you'll fall asleep like that, tangled in his warmth with Rex's head on your chest.
"Am I hurting you?" 
He'll always ask you that question, softly with concern. His head is heavy, but you always adjust to where it's comfortably situated just above your breasts. Rex could never hurt you, your answer the same no matter how many times he asks.
"Not at all."
Followed by a gentle reassurance for Rex to rest – his body and mind.
"Get some sleep, love."
It depends on just how heavy the burden is weighing on him, but it can also be frenzied and desperate when he comes to you.
Rex can be intense – a tidal wave of fervor. He can be so incredibly hungry for you that his armor doesn't even make it off his body, save for the one piece that hinders his cock from the haven of your cunt. He’ll back you up against the wall by the door that he'd only entered through minutes prior, his lips finding yours in a crazed dance. While he’s ensuring nothing is in the way of him entering you, you’re doing the very same, making quick work of removing everything from your body, allowing Rex access to anything he could want.
"That's my good girl – all ready for me. You're probably soaked too, hm? All ready to take me."
After using the wetness of your cunt to slick himself up, he'll enter you in one motion then fuck you hard, right there against the wall, the armor that stayed on smacking against your bare skin almost painfully. It’s the sting that spurs you on – makes you arch further into him. Rex’s hands never fail to find your breasts, pinching and tugging at your pebbled nipples as his body moves quicker and more determined than any ordinary man would have the energy for.
"Fuck – you take me so well – take my cock like a good girl. That's it, mesh'la. Say my name, tell me who's fucking you this good, and I'll keep giving you what you want."
When Rex speaks utter filth to you, grunting and huffing out curses with abandon, you take it and run with it. 
"Yes, baby. Just like that – ruin my pussy, Rex. It's yours, all yours, use me however you want – I'll take whatever you give me, baby."
Rex loses it when you talk back – breathes out a ragged groan as his thighs shake, his hands gripping your flesh like a lifeline when he cums deep inside you.
The armor will come off – but not until after he gets on his knees for you, his tongue dipping into the intoxicating tang of your cunt. He'll get you to cum for him again, because fuck, he needs it. He needs to taste you, to feel you, to consume you. You'll ride his face and fingers right there against the wall until he can no longer breathe.
"Rex, baby… it's too much. I– I need a break, love."
Those are the only words that can stop him, because Rex could eat your pussy for hours without a break for himself – tongue and lips having long gone numb. 
It's easy for him to lose track of time when you allow him to use your body in any way he pleases – and the same goes for you whenever you take a semblance of control.
"Lay back. Let me ride you, Rex."
He never argues with you, though there's always something more to say, that much is evident by the way his eyes search your face for any signs of doubt. Rex is a selfless lover, always taking care of your needs over his own, even when he's the one coming to you, so it causes him to buffer when you make suggestions like those to him. It usually takes an added plea, one you back with reason.
"Please? You deserve to lay back and just watch. I wanna take care of you, baby – make you feel good. Please let me?"
Rex will lay back, his hands switching between running up and down your parted thighs, reaching up to squeeze your breasts, and holding steady at your hips as you bounce on his cock. His eyes always stay on you, never letting himself get whisked away to the throes of pleasure. 
He wouldn't miss it for anything – how you look in those moments. 
"You're so beautiful. Come here."
He'll sit up to hold you against him, hands splayed on your lower back and gently guiding your movements.
“I love you.”
Rex breathes out the words so softly, always almost as if he’s afraid someone else would hear, mumbling them into your skin or against your lips.
But it’s always just the two of you, bodies pressed together in the safety of your home. Shelter. Rex can find it with you, skin on skin, under your roof, in the sound of your voice and wordless sounds. So you’ll make him say it again, gently cupping his jaw and having him meet your eyes.
“No one’s here but us, Rex. Just the two of us. It’s okay.”
You’ve noticed in the past several times that Rex has been over he’s been more open. Emotions flow not as encumbered, though you sense there may always be a hesitance in what he chooses to share with you, knowing full well that not everything he experiences on the field of battle is appropriate to unload onto you. Rex spares you the horrid details, the ones that no doubt haunt him the most. Those memories sit on the tip of his tongue, a bitter, foul taste trickling down his throat – and you notice, taking over in the conversation or even switching to another means of consolation. 
He’s given you names – hundreds of names – all of them unique, just like each of the men who owned them. Rex has taken his time speaking highly of each one of his men who’ve perished, throwing in a lighthearted, personal anecdote and genuine smile with the remembrances. He cares deeply, loves deeply, holds compassion and responsibility deeply. To have such depth in the way one feels can be beautiful – but also tragic. 
Rex once showed you something he wrote in an addition to a debriefing, a personal grievance he hadn’t shown his superiors. It was the truth layered with guilt, the words typed out on his datapad, more things to say than were necessary for the official campaign reports. His personal report included a piece of information that would have been detrimental if the event had occurred the way it was meant to.
… The transmitter had been sabotaged. We were led into traps. We were ordered to fire upon our own men. As second in command, I followed orders and killed our brothers. I should have listened to Fives, Jesse, Kix, and the rest of them from the beginning. I should have realized sooner that I was being used, and because of my naivety, my brothers suffered greatly. 
It became clear to all of us that General Krell was against the Republic, against us clones, and there was only one thing we agreed that had to be done. The traitor had access to vital information, all of our intel and defense codes, and would have turned it all over to Dooku and the Separatists if I hadn’t ordered his arrest and subsequent execution. 
Even with his hands bound and a blaster pointed in his direction, General Krell was still able to get inside of my head, the same way he had throughout the entire campaign on Umbara. He could sense my fear and my hesitation. In truth, I felt conflicted, confused about my duty. What I was doing was for the Republic, for my brothers, but I knew then that it wouldn't have been seen that way after it was all said and done. With our Jedi General court-martialed, and without more men on the way, we would have lost the airbase that Hardcase had sacrificed his life for. The Umbaran insurgents would have freed the traitor Krell, and the Republic would have been hit with a crippling blow. As Captain, I had to act. I had to do what needed to be done, for my brothers and for the Republic.
But I could not go through with it.
It was CT-6922, Dogma, who fired the shot at General Pong Krell, effectively ending his life and carrying out the execution I had ordered. By doing so, Dogma spared me from having to take the shot, and consequently spared me from bearing the weight of committing a mutiny, and the murder of a Jedi. 
Even though it was not on him to do so, Dogma did his duty to the Republic, as I failed to do mine.
Whatever happens to Dogma is on me, and I must live with that.
Somehow him surviving that campaign was even more detrimental than if he hadn’t.
As the months go on, Rex loses more and more of his closest friends. The war is really aging him quicker than he should be; you can see the creases in his eyes and sunken features on his face become the teeniest bit more prominent every time you see him. You’re not sure how much longer this is going to last, but if there is one thing you do know, it is that Rex can power through. He’ll survive this war because of what he’s told you.
Rex has experienced hell, seen things that made his heart twist then drop, but he’s also had the privilege of seeing glimpses of what lies outside the realm of all the fighting. Eye-opening, mentality-changing experiences – ones that gave him hope. Because of those optimistic encounters, Rex now believes that there is a vast, green meadow on the other side of all this. He no longer holds the ideas near and dear of how he was created for only one purpose and will die serving that very purpose. 
While he does still firmly believe that serving the Republic and being allegiant to his duty is crucial, and that deserting is not the right course of action, Rex finds that mentality in between – a safe mental space that allows him to do his duty while giving himself enough wiggle room to continue to explore what being alive truly means and should feel like, even if that does mean he’s straying from regulation. It’s not illegal if no one finds out.
A gray area.
In the gray, Rex can feel a semblance of peace. You’ve noticed how much he’s changed since he first rationalized his decision to tiptoe around regulation. You have, of course, expressed hesitance about it all, reminding him what could happen should he get caught, but it’s not like Rex doesn’t already know the risks, fully accepting them and taking it one rotation at a time. 
He always tells you not to worry – that he won’t get caught.
You believe him, trusting in him fully. Rex is a very calculated, brilliant man, having been competent enough from early on that he was put into leadership training before the war had even begun. They saw something in Rex long ago that you’re now having the pleasure of watching grow. 
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dumfanting · 5 months
Text
Ori’vod
AO3 Link
Rating: Safe (please respect that this is an 18+ blog)
warnings: fluff with a tiny bit of angst, kids, implication of pregnancy, suggestive at the end
notes: fem reader has a large family, a sister, and a nephew, second person pov, present tense
This is worlds away from what I usually write; I was at my own nephews birthday party and I guess it got me feeling sentimental. Written quickly with no beta, there may be some mistakes.
(Ori’vod- big brother | Ver’dika- little soldier | Bu’ir- father) Translation source
Rex/F! Reader
1.7k words
Rex finally comes with you to a family gathering and is convinced that they do care about him.
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You step out of the refresher, dressed and ready to go. Rex, meanwhile, is still in his sweats on the couch. You say his name and he looks up at you. 
“Rex, you’re not coming?” you ask, confused. He hesitates.
“You know how the natborns are, they won’t want me there, not around their kids,” he says without looking at you. You hold back a huff and sit directly across from him on the caf table before gently holding his chin and making him meet your eyes. 
“I don’t know where you got that idea,” you say patiently. “I keep telling you, my family loves you. Every time I show up alone they all wonder where you are and how you’re doing,” you say. Rex sits back and frees himself from your grasp without saying anything, and you sigh quietly as you get to your feet. He looks up at you, clearly feeling guilty. You lean forward and take his hand. 
“I don’t mean to make you feel bad, I’m sorry. You know I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to,” you say before bending a little to peck his cheek. You move towards the front door to your apartment, pausing to pull on your boots, and glance back at him one last time. 
“I’ll tell Delan happy birthday for you then,” you say, and reach for your keys. 
“Oh, Delan is going to be there?” Rex says, sitting up a little straighter. 
“Of course he is, it’s his party,” you say with a chuckle. “He’ll be four.” You watch him as he appears to have a debate with himself. “You know much he adores you, right?” you say with a smile. Rex huffs and gets to his feet, badly feigning annoyance.
“Alright, fine. But only so the kid won’t be disappointed,” he says, moving quickly into your shared bedroom. You watch him go with a soft shake of your head. As much as he tries to downplay it, you know the adoration goes both ways. 
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As the two of you walk up the driveway of your sister's place on the edge of town, a handful of your relatives spot you both coming and call out in greeting. You wave back in response before taking Rex’s hand and stopping. 
“Are you going to be okay?” you ask quietly. Rex sighs. 
“I think so,” he says, mirroring your tone. 
“If you want to leave just tell me, alright?” you say. Rex shakes his head at you, though he gives your hand a brief, appreciative squeeze. 
“I know how important your family is to you, I won’t drag you away on my behalf,” he says. You’re about to reply but a loud squealing sound from around your knee stops you. You both look down to find Delan staring up at you, a smear of something pink and a huge grin on his face. 
“Ori’vod! He came with you this time!” he shouts, and with a quick glance at Rex you can see how surprised he is by the boy’s excitement and use of the Mando’a term. 
“Told you,” you say while nudging his side. Before Rex can respond, Delan grabs him by the hand and pulls him along back into the house. 
“C’mon, I wanna show you somethin’!” Delan says. Rex looks back at you, as if for help, but you just wave at him. 
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You spend more time catching up with everyone outside than you intended, so you excuse yourself and walk into the house, wondering where Rex had gone. You maneuver around a cluster of kids in the narrow entryway and spot Delan among them. He also sees you and shouts that “Ori’vod’s on the back porch!” before chasing after a Pantoran boy you recognize as a neighbor's child. 
It takes you a little while to make your way to the back porch with all of your relatives greeting you, so when you do finally slip outside, you let out a long exhale, happy to find a quiet area. A quick glance around finds Rex sitting on a bench at the opposite end of the space and staring at something white in his hands, his expression unreadable. You make your way over and sit next to him, putting an arm around his shoulders and kissing his cheek. 
“You alright out here?” you softly ask. He looks up at you and simply nods before focusing back on what you can now see is a child-sized trooper helmet. “This what he wanted to show you?” you say, leaning over to get a better look at it. You barely suppress an ‘aww’ when you notice that it had been painted with Jaig eyes in a childish hand, mimicking Rex’s own helmet. 
You gently take it from him and set it aside before cupping his cheek and turning him to face you. This close, you’re able to recognize his expression as a sort of shocked surprise. You smile softly at him and rest your forehead against his. His hand finds yours and grips it tightly. 
“You really weren’t kidding, huh?” he says quietly. You can tell he has more to say, so you stay quiet, giving him space to speak as you lean backward enough to better see his face. 
“His dad walked by and said that he’d been begging for one since I’d met him; apparently he insisted on doing the paint himself,” Rex continues, voice thick, which catches you off guard. 
“You believe me now?” you say softly. You notice the way his eyes are shining, then turn yourself enough for him to hide his face against your neck. “That boy loves you, Rex,” you say, wrapping your arms around him. It takes him a minute or so to re-compose himself before he sits back up. 
“Yeah, I believe you,” he says, barely audible. You cup his cheek again and gently kiss him. 
“Thank you,” you say. When he looks confused, you continue: “For coming with me,” you say. 
“I'm glad I did,” he says, still quiet. He reaches over and picks up the small helmet, turning it over and over in his hands while you rest your head against his upper arm. 
The two of you sit like this for several minutes, until Delan bursts through the back door. He spots you and shouts that it’s time for cake before dashing back inside. You get to your feet and start to walk toward the door, but you notice that Rex hasn’t followed you. You turn back and say his name. 
“You coming, Ori’vod ?” you ask while trying and failing to hide a smirk. 
“Oh, so you taught him that?” Rex says, speaking normally as he gets to his feet. 
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” you say, but the grin on your face gives you away. 
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Hours have passed, and most of the other guests have gone home. You’re in the kitchen, almost done helping your sister with the absurd amount of dishes, and Rex is in the living room talking with the few others that are still there, finally relaxed. 
You put the last of the plates in the cabinet and are about to head into the living room, but your sister says your name, holding you back. 
“I don’t know how you convinced him to come with you,” she says. “But thank you; it’s really made Delan’s day.”
You both stand in the doorway, looking at them on the sofa in the other room; Delan is curled up in Rex’s lap and appears to have fallen asleep. You smile softly, a warm feeling filling your chest. Your sister yawns and you glance at her. 
“You must be exhausted,” you say. She stretches her arms and nods at you. 
With that, you both return to the group. Your sister gingerly moves Delan to an open spot on the couch, apologizing to Rex for him. 
“Oh, it’s no trouble. I'm glad he feels that safe with me,” Rex says. Your sister says that she’d never thought about it that way as he gets to his feet, then she walks the two of you to the front door. 
“Don’t forget, Mom’s thing is next week,” she reminds you. 
“I’ll be there,” you say, and stop yourself from looking at Rex, who says that he’ll be there too. A flood of relief washes over you. You open the door and lead him down the few steps, then stop once you notice he hasn’t followed you. You turn back around and find Delan in the doorway, and Rex crouched down to his level. You take a few steps close enough to hear them talking. 
“Goodnight, Ori’vod,” Delan says with a wide yawn before hugging his arms around Rex’s neck. Rex pats his shoulder. 
“Goodnight, ver’dika,” he says, then gets to his feet as Delan waves at you both before wandering off back inside. You have a realization then, but don't say anything about it yet. 
You manage to contain yourself until the two of you reach your speeder bike, but once you do, you surprise Rex by throwing your arms around him and kissing him deeply. Though taken aback for a second, he quickly reciprocates with fervor. When you two break apart for air, he laughs and asks what that was for. You link your hands behind his neck and kiss him again. 
“I was just thinking,” you say. 
“Oh? About what?” he asks, smiling at you and resting his hands on your hips.
“ ‘Ori’vod’ is good, but I think ‘bu’ir’ will suit you better,” you say, watching him. He looks confused for a moment, until what you’ve said fully processes. 
“A-are you serious?” he asks. 
“I am,” you say, and the words are barely out of your mouth before he’s swept you into his arms and spins once with you, kissing you deeply again as he sets you on your feet. You can’t help but laugh. 
“Is that a ‘yes’ then?” you say, grinning at him. 
“Good Maker, mesh’la, yes, yes of course,” he says, breathless. 
“Good,” you say, your voice dropping an octave and becoming husky. “Let’s go home and get started then,” you continue, brushing your hand just below his belt and making him groan. He kisses you again, desperate and hungry this time. 
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tag list: @madameminor @kaminocasey
(Wasn’t sure if I should tag anyone else since this is so different)
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battlekilt · 11 months
Note
Why would you pin a kick me sign on Cody?
Have you met the man?
Look at him.
He needs to be kicked some. Shake some of that trickery he's put on everyone into thinking he is a perfect ball of sunshine and impenetrable competence.
Honestly, also, he is another character who loses all amusement for me once in the hands of fandom.
Based entirely on the behaviors we—do—see from the character, he reminds me of my beloved Grandfather, and all his many layers. The subtlety of his expressions, the way he so obviously opens up more around one person, Rex, than anyone else. My grandfather was the same way. He was a man who intimidated others, but he was actually a genuinely soft-shelled person that was too reticent to befriend many.
All because of that, I see Commander Cody and my "favorite grandchild" instincts begin again—I see a kick-me sign on his back.
My grandfather and I were terrors to each other, and to the world at large. He waited his whole life to have a little menace to be obnoxious with, and I was it.
What I read into him is a man who 100% is a Walk Softly And Carry A Big Stick, only... he wears massive combat boots. So, the walking softly part kind of gets lost. He still has a big stick. He's also a man who shuts up and listens.
He has his favorites, though. I'll break some military code of conduct and characterize it—
Cody will burn this galaxy down for that blonde Clone. Try him. He is usually a mellow yellow sun, but he'll go nova. My grandmother, who was definitely my grandfather's favorite for most of her life, just chuckled and acknowledged that I was a different matter. I imagine that Cody and Obi-Wan are similar to them, though platonic—they sure would bicker like my grandparents did. Kenobi knows that his Clone Commander is loyal, fervent, stalwart. But for a man who has nothing to his name, not even his painted armor... Don't make that scarfaced man...
In canon, in the new comics, in Legends—Everyone sees an intimidating Commander.
I see a D-O-R-K. I knew a man like him. They even had the same, mischievous smirk, called their favorite people derisive nicknames, and had a frown so deep that it curved his the whole bottom half of his mouth in a deep arch. I loved him with all my heart.
That's why I'll pin a KICK ME sign on Cody. Because he makes me giggle to see a floof ball under all that intimidation. He just better lovingly bully me back.
Which, he does... Anyway, back to revising more of his content. This is how he bullies me — now.
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jasmines-library · 2 years
Text
The Clutches of Darkness
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Obi-Wan Kenobi x GN Padawan!reader (Completely platonic!)
Summary: Whilst on a mission with Ahsoka, things go askew. When Ahsoka calls her master in a desperate plea for help, it's a race against time to reach you before something fatal happens.
Warnings: Angst, angst, angst. Stabbing, gore (not a lot but it's there), near death, blood. Crap writing and grammar. I think that's mostly it, but please lmk!
Word count: 2.1K
Note: This was inspired by a heartstopper audio which i'll try to link here. I also have a non reader version that i've linked below if you're more interested in that (it's the same just with an OC). This is probably the first propper star wars fic that i've written, so your opinions would be great! I also suck at naming shit but enjoy :)
Masterlist OC version
The holopad blares loudly, echoing throughout the room. Anakin stumbles towards it, his eyes bleary with sleep. It reads 1:39am. Ahsoka calling. He picks up and the image of his padawan soon materialises in front of him.
“Hello?” He sighs, resting his head against the wall and rubbing his eyes. 
“Anakin?” Ahsoka’s voice is quiet on the other side of the call, she sounds panicked, scared almost, “Where’s Obi-Wan? How long will it take for you to get to me?”
Anakin furrows his brow and turns his attention briefly to Obi-Wan as he enters the room, as if he had been summoned by the mention of his name. “Ahsoka? I thought you were on assignment?” he continues. There’s a brief pause before the padawan nods.
“I am,”
“You didn’t run into trouble did you?”
There is a deathly silence on the other end of the line. Ahsoka is frozen, an unnerving shiver runs through her body. Anakin frowns at the static of the holo and speaks up.
“Snips? Are you alright? Why did you call us?”
Once again, silence but this time followed by a stifled sob. Tears were now streaming down the Togruta’s cheeks. 
“Ahsoka, are you there?” 
Then it comes. The words no one expects. “Something’s wrong with Y/N”
It’s Anakin’s turn to be silent. He turns away from the hologram and his face must do something very unusual because Obi-Wan gives him this look. A funny, terrified look.
“What’s happened?” Anakin demands, panicked. He pulls on his boots and his robes and begins to fumble around for his lightsaber,
 “Ahsoka what’s happened? What’s Y/N done? Where are they?” It is Obi-Wan who speaks next. He is calmer than Anakin, nevertheless panicked. You are his padawan. He cares for you deeply and can’t bear to think of you being hurt, but he knows panicking will get him nowhere.
Ahsoka stumbles over her words which come out in broken chokes “I- I can’t get to them. Ventress ambushed us from behind and they pushed me away. The doors are locked and I can’t get in. I tried master, I- I tried I promise but I can’t get through,” Ahsoka is sobbing now, her words barely recognisable through her cries, “I can hear them...they’re screaming,”
Obi-Wan’s blood runs cold and he turns to Anakin who wears the same expression on his face. They feel as though the world is running in slow motion. They start sprinting towards the hangar, yet it feels like they can’t run fast enough. Blaster fire breaks through the crackle of the holopad, then the sound of robotic yelling and the swinging of a lightsaber. Ahsoka’s frame briefly leaves the call, worrying the two masters even more. When she returns she looks even more dishevelled than before. “Please,” she begs, “When are you going to get here?”
“We’re on our way,” Obi-Wan replies as he fires up the engine of the ship, “Just hold on Ahsoka”
The call ends. 
***
Obi-Wan’s ship shakes violently as it lands next to Anakin’s who is already racing towards him. Rex clambers out of the Assault Transport with a handful of other clones before raising his hand to his forehead in salute. 
“What’s the plan, sir?” he asks, standing tall. 
“From the map Ahsoka forwarded us, it looks like Ventress has Y/N here,” he points to a circular room in the centre of the base; the control room that the two of you had been assigned to steal data from, “It’ll be even more heavily guarded than before now that they know the order are here. I have no doubt that they know we’re here too, which is why it’s too risky to go in through any of the more accessible routes especially since we only have a small team,” he zooms in closer to the entanglement of blue lines to reveal small passages linking between all of the rooms, “Luckily for us, Ahsoka has discovered a network of pipes that lead into the base. Now, while it’s not the quickest way to get in, it's the most effective way to keep as subtle as we can.”
“And your padawan?” Rex asks Anakin.
“Ahsoka’s hiding in the pipes. We’ll rendezvous with her there. Once we’re in, we’ll split and flank from both sides then meet by the control room. Obi-Wan and I will take on Ventress and Rex and Ahsoka will get Y/N out of there. The rest of you’ll take defensive positions,”
“Copy that, sir,” 
“Rex, Hardcase, you’re with me. Ahsoka will join us at the rendezvous. Everyone else you’re with Obi-Wan”
The group splits in two, each group taking their respective routes. The clanking of plastoid boots hitting cold metal echoes through the eerie silence as they hurry through the tunnels desperate to reach you before it is too late. They know that Ventress would stop at nothing to take back the data that you stole from her and to learn all of the secrets the Jedi order has to offer. As the Jedi draw closer they can feel your force signature however it’s faint. They’re running out of time. Anakin struggles to push open the hatch at the other end of the tunnel, but with the help of the force it becomes seemingly effortless and he clambers out, closely followed by his distressed padawan and his clone companions. A loud siren blares throughout the compound and blaster fire rebounds through the hallways. “Time to do what we do best, boys,” Rex pulls himself into a ready position “Let’s kick some clanker ass” . Soon the corridor is a whirlwind of red, blue and green as the battle droids are taken down one by one. Once the droids are all taken down they continue their journey to the control centre, the two Jedi reflecting any incoming shots with their blasters until they reach a large circular structure in the centre of the building. It is heavily guarded; battle droids and destroyers at every possible entrance. With his back pressed to the wall, Anakin pulls out his comlink.
“We’re in position. Ready to engage the enemy on your signal, master” The light on his com flashes green. It's a subtle way of letting him know that Obi-Wan had heard him.
On the other side of the control centre, Obi-Wan is growing increasingly worried. Maker knows what the assassin has done to you in the time it’s taken them to reach you. They arrived as soon as they could but what if it just wasn’t fast enough? What if you were… No. He couldn’t let himself think like that. You’ll be fine, they just have to take out these droids first. He takes a calming breath and closes his eyes, then his lightsaber is fatally meeting the metal of a droid. It drops to the floor in a static motion. All blasters are immediately pointing at him, scolding plasma being flung from all directions. The fight is reckless, the team barely escaping without any injuries of concern. 
“See if you can get those blast doors open,” Obi-Wan orders to one one in particular, his mind too occupied on confiding in a plan with Anakin on how to take on Ventress. 
The blast doors slide open with a hiss to reveal the assassin towering above your hunched over form; one of her hands tangled in your hair forcing you look towards your friends, the other gripping the hilt of her red blade held so close to your neck that that you could feel the blazing heat coming from it. You look exhausted. Your face is blank and dark rims encase your eyes, the usual spark they hold nowhere in sight. A nasty gash runs from your eyebrow to your right cheek and your arms are covered in multiple burns. 
“Obi-Wan, Anakin” she states, a smirk appearing on her lips “How nice of you to join us, you’re just in time for the finale. Your little padawan here was about to tell me all about your little plans”
“Let her go, Ventress” Your master demands, taking another step towards  you.
The assassin chides, holding her lightsaber impossibly close to your neck. You feel the skin begin to blister under the heat. A soft whimper escapes your lips. “Ah, ah, ah. One more step and you won’t have a padawan anymore,” Obi-Wan pauses, turning to Anakin who nods before leaping into the air at the same time as Obi-Wan lunges forwards. Blue meets red as Ventress ignites her second saber to block the incoming attack. Now she’s distracted, you shuffle away, Ahsoka and Rex immediately by your side helping you up off the ground to escort you out of the room. It didn’t take long for Ventress to succumb to defeat, the younger jedi manipulating the force so that it sent her flying across the room and knocking unconscious. Suddenly another pair of arms are on you replacing the ones that had been holding you up. Obi-Wan pulls you into his embrace, his presence soothing you. You were safe. Or so you thought. Amid the comfort, you sense another presence behind you, you pull away and turn thinking it is Anakin; however as soon as you leave Obi-Wan’s arms the force begins screaming at you, telling you you’re in danger. You barely catch a glimpse of Ventress’ lightsaber before it’s driven through your stomach. You scream, but the sound mixes with the pounding in your ears. Your fingers clamp over your stomach, which is already blistering and turning ugly shades of red and purple, in vain as you collapse to your knees. Tears fall from your eyes as you try to breathe evenly through the pain, albeit your breaths come in quick, ragged heaves. A face appears in front you and hands are grabbing your shoulders. You can barely see them,  eyes darting back and forth, unfocused.  The figure eases you down so you’re laying on the ground. 
“Hold on Y/N. You’re going to be okay. Just hold on” Obi-Wan urges. You’re not sure if he’s trying to reassure you or himself. Trying to speak. Your mouth parts, but the only thing you manage is a pained wheeze which causes coughs to rack your body violently. When you pull your hand away from your mouth, the other still limply clutching your stomach, it is stained with crimson droplets. 
“Kriff'' He mutters under his breath before calling for help. You whimper as you try to shift, failing dismally as the pain in your gut is too much to bear. Your lids begin to droop shut. Everything feels heavy, you feel like you’re drowning and you just want to close your eyes and sleep. Maybe if you close your eyes, you think, you can forget about everything for a moment. 
“No, no, no! Hey! Look at me, come on, open your eyes,” He slaps your face lightly. He won’t lose you. Not yet, not the way he lost his master…not the way he lost Satine.
Hands are sliding under you, the plastoid armour cold against your blistering skin. They reach around the back of your knees and your shoulders. Your eyes fly open and you cry out in pain as you’re lifted from the ground. Rex’s face comes into view, not his helmet but his face etched with concern. 
“I know, I know. I’m sorry” he mumbles. Although your senses are clouded, you recognise the distinct sound of lightsabers clashing against each other. Ahsoka and Anakin were fighting Ventress, Obi-Wan still at your side. 
“Obi-Wan” Anakin yells through grunts as he swings at the assassin “get them out of here!”
He’s already moving towards the exit of the control room, his blue saber casting an almost frightening glare over his features. Rex follows shortly behind him, sheltering you from oncoming blaster fire.
It feels like an eternity before they reach the safety of the ships, but it was merely a matter of minutes. The exit was much more efficient without having to sneak through the pipes. Rex lays you down on the floor before rushing towards the cockpit and firing up the hyperdrive. Obi-Wan’s hands clasp over yours.
“I’m sorry…” you mutter. It takes almost all of your strength and your choke over your words “I-I thought I could do it but I’m just not strong enough,” A tear slips down your cheek and your breathing slows as you start fading once again “I failed you, Master… I’m sorry..” You don’t hear his reply. Just an incoherent shout of your name before you succumb to the clutches of darkness.
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mermaidgirl30 · 3 months
Text
Look for the Light
Chapter 20
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- Summary: Aly finds herself trying to escape the Boston QZ. What Aly doesn’t know is Tess is pairing her up with Joel to go on a dangerous mission to find Tommy. Will Aly survive the brooding, moody Joel or will she find herself falling hard for him?
- Tags: Torture, murder, angst, 18+ only MDNI
Joel’s POV
The lodge was quiet as you snuck your way through the narrow hallway. The clouds were hazy and covering the sun, so no sunlight was beaming through the glass windows. It was almost as dark as this place felt. Cold, uninviting, and lethal.
You took the safety off the rifle and opened the action, loading a magazine. Quickly closing the bolt and locking it in place, you held it up ready to aim at whatever came your way. You made your way around the corner and looked both ways. There was nothing. Where the hell was everyone?
You crept around and went into the next room. To your right was a kitchen the size of one you’d see at a summer camp that could feed over 100 people. You turned and went in, careful not to bang into any of the hanging metal pots. Before you could get too far, you heard some voices from the other room. The sound came from upstairs as they descended the opulent staircase that was next to the main room of the lodge.
“Have you guys seen James? David’s looking for him. Said it’s urgent,” one of the men said to the others.
“I saw him not long ago. Don’t think he went outside. Michael went outside though. Said he was gonna go smoke. Last I saw him was about 15 mins ago.”
Shit. Aly was outside. If she wasn’t back in the next few minutes you’d go looking for her.
You listened as their footsteps carried down the hall, getting more distant. Before long you heard one of the men cry out, “James and Rex, they’re dead! Someone slit their throats!”
“Someone snuck in. Find them and kill them!” another man said with thick and heavy words.
Come and get me then fuckers. You were ready to shed more blood. Violence ran through you as if it was part of your dna. That same exact feeling when you were out with Tommy all those times coming back. If they wanted a fight then that’s exactly what they’d get. But you’d come out winning, just like always.
“Split up. You two go search the back. Me and Cam will go search the front of the building. He’s gotta be around here somewhere. Can’t hide forever,” he shouted out in the distance as it echoed around the room.
You heard footsteps coming towards the room you were in. You backed up right against the edge of the door, ready to attack if they walked in. You heard one of the men walk past, the other one stayed around the area circling by the staircase.
You were about to step out of the room when a man dressed in winter apparel stepped through the kitchen door, spotting you instantly. Before he could call out to the other men you swung the gun, hitting him hard with the butt of the gun and knocking him unconscious.
As soon as he passed out on the floor, you took one of your tracker boots and stomped on his head hard, his head instantly turning to mush as blood seeped out onto the floor. You spit into his face before you walked out of the kitchen, ready to hunt down the man that went to the back of the lodge.
You held up the rifle, your aim sharp and steady for shooting. You walked down a long corridor with giant windows covering each side. The floors eerily creaked with each step you took. You looked both ways trying to find your next victim.
You turned to your right as you came around a sharp corner. There was an open wooden door with light streaming out of the room. A light rustling sound was coming from inside.
You slowly walked over to it and came to a halt at the entrance of the room. There he was, your next victim. You caught him off guard as he turned around, his eyes going wide.
“Say goodnight, asshole,” you seethed as you pulled the trigger. The bullet flew through the air and hit him right in the center of his forehead, sending him to the ground with the splash of blood.
You ejected the spent casing and pushed the bolt forward to be ready for the next shot. You heard shouts down the hall after the gunshot echoed through the lodge. You quickly moved back to the main hallway, turning the corner to see the two men heading your way fast. They recognized you instantly.
“You!” one of the men screamed, pointing a finger in your direction.
“You’re going to pay for what you did!” the other one shouted.
They lifted their handguns up to your level, but you were too fast. You shot the first man and then the second, both collapsing to the floor as blood spewed from their bodies. What a piece of cake that was.
You walked past the narrow hallway and found yourself standing in the main room, the granite table staring daggers into your eyes. Your nostrils flared as you walked over to it. You were about to knock it over when a loud, ominous voice shouted from the second floor.
“What the fuck is all that racket in my house?!”
David. That had to be him. You pointed your rifle up to the second floor searching for where the voice came from. You didn’t see anyone, but apparently he saw you.
“Ahh. You must be Joel. How nice of you to show up,” he said in a sarcastic tone. You kept your rifle pointed high. Your finger ready to pull the trigger. “So, did Aly survive or is she dead?” He accentuated the word dead, and it made your insides twist.
“That’s none of your goddamn business,” you hissed.
David laughed as his voice carried through the room. “That makes me think she’s not dead. And I’m guessing that she’s here right now, back in my vicinity. How…delightful.” He said the last word like he was taking the first bite of a piece of rich chocolate cake, savoring the taste. It made you sick to your stomach. “Why don’t you just go ahead and show me where she is? We can make this quick.”
“Why don’t you show yourself and come fight me like a man?” you yelled as your voice echoed through the room, your grip tight on the rifle.
David’s laugh carried through the entire lodge, his crazed laugh bouncing off every corner of the walls. His voice was everywhere. You made a giant circle, looking up the entire time. The railings of the second story were too high to see over and you saw no shadow anywhere except your own.
The sky was dark outside now making it harder to see in the dim lit room. There were low lights on in the halls and lanterns strewn around the room, but the upstairs looked pitch black. No matter how hard you tried to see David in the shadows you couldn’t.
“I don’t want to fight you. No. I’m just going to carve you into little pieces while your slut watches as I take you piece by piece. I want to see the horror on her face as she watches her precious Joel be chopped up. Then I’ll tear her apart until there’s nothing left to take,” he said sadistically as his words marked you.
That’s it. You were going to take this fucker and put him in the grave. You were so angry that your teeth were gnashed together in a snarl and you felt your eyes go dark as you squinted up to the second floor. You quickly aimed the rifle up to where you last heard the voice and shot a bullet into the air. You heard it bounce off the wall and take down what sounded like a lamp.
“You missed,” David laughed as his voice came from the other side of the room.
You turned around and raised your gun again, quickly actioning the bolt. “Don't ever talk about Aly that way again or I’ll cut out your tongue!”
“How exciting, I’d like to see you try,” he laughed again. This time the laughter was coming from the left side of the room. You turned towards the sound and looked up. Nothing. Where the fuck was he?
“You do realize I just slaughtered your men, and you’re upstairs hiding like the coward that you are. So come on out. I dare you,” you spat as fumes ran through you.
“You’re going to regret you ever said that.” His voice went dark, still echoing through the room. All of a sudden the room got quiet. You didn’t hear a thing from upstairs. No footsteps, no breathing.
You held your rifle tighter, making a small circle as you searched for any sign of life upstairs. There was nothing. What the hell. Where did he go? You could hear your fast heartbeat pulse in your ears, your shaky breaths coming out slowly. You were on guard. Waiting for just one small noise to signal where he was.
You took a few steps to the left, heading for the staircase. Before you could get far, you felt something heavy drop on top of you, sending you to the floor in a crash as your rifle was thrown across the room. The weight on your back sent shooting pains through your spine as you fought to turn around to see what it was. You finally managed to roll onto your back as the heavy weight switched sides.
You gasped when you saw what was now flopped on top of you. David. His cold, icy eyes looked down into yours from above. His face was red and filled with rage. He was grabbing ahold of your plaid shirt, trying to find your neck.
You grunted as you grabbed his wrist and sent him backwards. He landed on his side next to you as he pushed himself back up. Your back was spasming, making it hard to get up. You tried to push yourself up, but weren’t fast enough. David had jumped on top of you again, digging his knees into your groin. You yelled in pain as he pushed down further on top of you, making sure you couldn’t get up.
He pulled out a long, sharp butcher knife as he held it over your chest. You shot your hands out and grabbed his wrist, preventing him from bringing it down any further. He grimaced as he tried to bring the knife down, but you were too strong.
He sunk his knee deeper into you as pain shot down your leg. You winced in pain from the action, and he successfully brought the knife down a couple inches closer to you. You used as much strength as you could manage to keep the sharp blade from hitting you. Your fingers were turning white from how hard you were pushing back.
“Did you really think you were going to take Aly from me and be successful? She was mine the moment she came through those doors. She belongs to me now,” David said forcefully as he stared at you with the eyes of a killer.
That made you angry. No, furious. Your body was shaking underneath you as you tried everything in your power to push him off you. You looked up at him with a threatening scowl across your face, your eyes glaring into his. “She’s mine,” you growled with as much force as you could.
David started laughing hysterically as he held the knife above you, getting ready to sink it into your chest. You gathered as much strength as you could in your body and pushed him off you, knocking him on his back as he dropped the blade out of reach.
You pushed through the pain from getting off your back and turned the tables on David. You flipped over and landed a hard punch across his face as you heard a crack from his nose. Blood spilled out as the weight of the punch broke his nose.
He screamed and held his nose for a few seconds before he turned back to you with a hate filled face. He jumped on you again. The two of you went tumbling as you fought with bloody knuckles.
He landed a punch to your cheek, but it barely grazed you. You hit him again in the face, this time busting his lip open. It barely phased him as he just got right back up.
You pushed yourself off the floor and he did the same, coming towards you like a deranged psychopath. “Is that the best you got?!” he yelled at you with blood spitting out of his mouth.
He came at you again, this time missing your face as he punched. You grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him against the wall, his body landing with a hard thud as he grunted in pain.
He held his shoulder that crashed into the wall, limping over to you. Before he could go at you again, you picked up a wooden chair and bashed it against the side of his head. It knocked him out cold as he fell to the floor, one of the legs of the chair breaking after it contacted the side of his skull.
You caught your breath and leaned over, stretching out your tight muscles in your back. This would hurt tomorrow. After catching your breath you scowled down at David.
“Alright, time for some payback,” you snarled as you grabbed another chair and placed it in the middle of the room. You dragged David’s body over to it and plopped him in the chair. You found some strong rope in the other room and tied multiple knots around his hands, binding him tightly to the chair as his arms were practically glued to it. There was no way he’d get out of that. You couldn’t wait till he woke up again because this time you would be the one to torture him.
You paced around the room, your knife in your hands and your rifle strapped across your body again. The suspension was killing you waiting for him to wake up. You walked over to one of the cascading windows and looked out, trying to find Aly.
You looked around the area and fog was smothered across the top of the lake, making its way off the water. You could see the towering rocks you had been at earlier. You squinted in the distance, trying to see between the fog and that’s when you saw her. She was washing her hands off, leaning over the lake. She finally stood up and looked back behind her.
Right by the rock laid a new bloody corpse. Oh, thank God. She had killed the man before he got to her. You let a sigh of relief out. She was okay.
A jostle of movement could be heard from the other room, making you turn from the glass and head back into the main room. David was waking up. You could hear a low grunt and see his eyes start to open again. Excellent. Slowly but surely his eyes opened and he was grinning at the sight of you.
“Why the fuck are you smiling?” you barked, moving right in front of him. His lip was puffy and his nose was still covered in blood.
He didn’t answer your question. Instead he asked something else. “Is this why you came back here? To get revenge for your precious Aly?”
“Isn’t that pretty obvious?” You tapped the knife against the denim material of your jeans waiting for his response.
“I figured you’d come back. Once I found Aly was missing from the basement, I knew it was you that came back. And I suspect you killed Jasper. I sent him and Tony after you.”
“I killed them both. I blew Tony’s head off with his own shotgun and hung Jasper from a tree. They got what they deserved,” you said coldly.
“Did they tell you what they did to her? How Jasper had her pinned down over on that table as her terrified screams filled the room and every one of my men watched her struggle.” His smile spread across his mouth as he started cackling like a jackal.
Your muscles tightened and your jaw clenched as anger took over your face. You stomped over to him and punched his face so hard that your knuckles burned.
He spit the blood from his mouth and smiled up at you with bloody teeth as it ran down his chin. “Oh, does that make you angry? Knowing how she was taken advantage of and you weren’t here to stop any of it.” A smirk formed on his face as his eyes pierced through you. Who the fuck did this guy think he was?
You grabbed his thin blonde hair and pulled his head back, staring daggers at him. “Shut your fucking mouth or I’ll shut it for you.” You ran the blade over the side of his mouth, barely knicking at his skin as a small cut formed. Crimson running down the side of his mouth.
“Oooooo you’re so intimidating,” he said with thick sarcasm in his tone. “Honestly, Joel. Can I call you Joe for short?”
“No!” you said with a deep tone and force behind your words.
“Anyways, why don’t we call it even? You already killed all my men. Why don’t you just let me go and I’ll be on my way. You won’t see me again.”
“Not a chance,” you said angrily. “You’re in for a painful evening.” You took the blade and sank it deep into his thigh.
“Shit!” he screamed in pain as you pushed the blade deeper, crimson spilling over his light blue denim jeans. “Don’t you know I get off on pain?” he laughed as he cringed his face from the pain.
“You sick fuck,” you fired back. You pulled the blade out of his leg as blood caked the blade. You wiped it off on his black sweater and placed the handle back in your hand.
You turned your back on him and breathed for a minute, running your hand through your messy hair from the fight that took place just minutes ago. You wondered if Aly had found the matches. Or anything to light this place on fire.
David interrupted your thoughts as he coughed some blood out and spoke again. “Do you really think you can save her?”
You turned around fast and raised your eyebrow at him. “What are you talking about? I already saved her.”
He cackled a long, scratchy laugh before he continued. “You might’ve saved her once, but what exactly does that prove? I could get out of these binds and do even worse to the both of you.”
“There’s no way in hell you’re getting out of here alive.” You scowled as your fists clenched together.
“Maybe not. Maybe this is where I die, but at least I have the pleasure of knowing that Aly was royally fucked on her stay here.” Bloody teeth smiled up at you as a low chuckled rumbled from his throat.
You were on him the next moment, grabbing him by his collar and pushing the blade into his bicep. He cried out in pain with a laugh to follow. “Shut your fucking mouth!” You were seething, livid from David. Fuming about what these men did to Aly. You swear you’d never been this furious in your life. Wanting to do worse than set him on fire. You wanted to strike him down with lightning, cut out his insides and throw him into a pit of starving lions.
You hit him again hard across the face as you landed another punch to his right eye. You hit him over and over again until your knuckles were bruised. When you were finished, his eye was swollen shut. Black and blue circles surrounded his eye as he struggled to keep his head up.
“That’s it. Keep it up. Keep hitting me. Come at me with whatever you got.” He egged you on, wanting you to hit him again. “That’s alright. See, you’re just like me. You feed off revenge and violence.”
“I’m nothing like you!” you growled into his face, spit hitting his open eye.
“Is that what you tell yourself at night? I see the darkness in you, Joel. You would’ve added to my men so well. Hell, you might’ve been better than James.”
“I would’ve never joined your fucked up circus! I’m only here to get my revenge so you freaks wouldn’t come back for her!” you screamed into his face, your hands digging into his collar again. You shoved him back hard in the chair, your fist landing against his chin. Two teeth were knocked out of his bottom jaw as he spit them out into the floor, blood splattering the hard wood.
“That’s too bad. You would’ve done well. But anyways, how has Aly held up the past week? I assume she’s had nightmares. Trauma? Most definitely. And that nice, deep cut on her arm. I sincerely hope it scars up so whenever she sees it she can think of me. You should’ve seen her face when I stuck the blade in her. The tears in her eyes, the screams…”
You grabbed up your gun in a second, your hand taking off the safety as you pushed the bolt forward. You pulled the trigger and aimed at his knee. The bullet closed in on his knee as it shattered, sending parts of his bones flying across the floor.
“Fuck!” he yelled in pain as the blood started flowing. The whites of his bones were showing as there was now a gaping hole in his knee. It was done for.
You then grabbed your knife and dragged it down the back of the entire Achilles tendon in the same leg. Tendons and nerves showed as the blade cut cleanly through his skin. He writhed in pain from the immense damage that was now done to his leg.
He continued to scream as a couple of tears rolled down his good eye. His right leg was completely dead now. There was no coming back from that.
You got up and grabbed his hair again, pulling his head back to look at you. “That’s for torturing my girl,” you growled into his ear. “Now I’m going to let her do the honor of ending your pathetic life.” You kicked his injured leg as you let go of his hair and pushed him back. He was left screaming in agony.
You completely missed the sound of the front door opening as you were too focused on David and his screams. You heard a light creaking sound against the floorboards as you turned to see who it was. Aly.
She stood in the shadows around the corner of the entryway to the room. She was silently watching the two of you. You had no idea how long she had been standing there or what all she heard, but she looked absolutely terrified. Her eyes were wide, and you could see she was breathing heavily.
You stared at her, waiting for her to look you in the eyes. She finally made contact with you, but her eyes looked so lost, scared. Come on, baby. It’s alright. You tried to tell her that with your eyes, concern washing over them.
She took a step closer, coming out of the shadows. You nodded at her telling her it was alright. That’s it. Deep breaths. I’m right here.
She stepped into the light and entered the room slowly, stopping at the entrance and freezing. She had the matches in her right hand and held a small closed container of gasoline. She must’ve found it outside before she came back inside the lodge. That’s my girl.
David lifted his head and took in the sight of Aly. A smirk played at the corner of his mouth and his eyes grew darker. “Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to come join the party. Hi, princess. Come back to play with me?”
The container of gasoline fell from Aly’s hand, and it went crashing down to the floor with a loud thud. She held onto the box of matches with a tight grip in her other hand, her fingers almost puncturing the material of the box. Her breathing was rapid, she looked so scared. Her face growing paler by the minute. She just stood there petrified.
“What, cat got your tongue?” David erupted into a full on psychotic laughter as he stared Aly down.
Come on, baby. Focus on me. Only me.
It’s like she could read your mind because she looked over at you, panic written all over her face.
“Breathe,” you said slowly, your voice low. “Eyes on me.”
And that’s exactly what she did. She stared at you, taking in every word you just said. And you noticed her breathing get slower, more steady.
Atta girl.
David interrupted the moment between you and Aly. He coughed some blood out before he yelled his next words. “So now the fun can really begin! Isn’t that right, Aly?” He stared fiercely at her, a devilish grin twisting his face.
She looked back over at him and the calm cycle was broken. There she stood terrified like she was remembering the events that took place in this room. And then she looked over at the granite top table and froze. She was holding back tears. You could see her eyes getting watery.
Oh, baby. I’m so sorry.
“Aly, look at me,” you said softly, taking one step closer to her.
“No, look at me!” David yelled in anger, his face red from the force of his voice.
Aly looked between the two of you, going back and forth like she didn’t know what to do. She was overstimulated. You could tell by her features in her face. The way she scratched and squeezed the box that she held in her palm. The way her eyes were wide with terror streaming from the dark blue of her eyes. The way her body tensed up. You knew her well enough now to know, and all you wanted to do was pull her close into your arms.
“Aly,” you tried again more softly. She looked up at you under those long, dark eyelashes and gulped. “You can do this,” you said encouragingly.
“Do what? Kill me? Go ahead and try, princess. Come get me,” he dared Aly.
She took one step forward and then froze again. Come on. You can do this. You would have done it yourself already, but she already told you she needed to do this. And you weren’t going to take that from her. So you just stood there waiting for her to make her move.
Come on, baby. Move.
The room was filled with tension as the three of you sat in that room waiting to see who would make the next move. The room grew still like being out in an open jungle, in front of a giant anaconda waiting to take down their prey with one strike. Silence shrouded the room and all that was left were heavy stares. You just prayed that Aly would be the one to move next.
Chapter 21
Series Masterlist
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