Title: Reprieve

Author: Emjen Enla (Fanfiction)/ emjen_enla (Wattpad)

Teaser: The droids would be upon them in less than twenty minutes, and Rex was bandaging his General's quite-possibly-broken ankle. [Anakin/Rex friendship, Anakin whump]

Rating: PG-13/T

Word Count: just over 1,000

Canon: Legends or Disney

Timeline: in the Clone Wars, sometime before the costume change

Dominant Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Rex

Pairings: none

POVs: Rex

Warnings: nothing major

Notes:

-Summer is almost here! I hope to do a lot of writing this summer, so keep your eyes peeled!

-This story is inspired by something patientalien recently posted, but I obviously didn't copy his/her story.

-Recently, I've been a little frustrated by my inability to write short things, so I gave myself a 1,000 word limit for this story. Its maybe seventy words over, but that's not too bad.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.

Artillery shells screeched through the sky, ripping up huge chunks of ground further down the slope.

The Separatists weren't in range of the Republic camp perched precariously on the top of the hill yet, but that didn't stop them from raining death onto the slopes. Rex wasn't sure if they were going for the good old-fashioned we're-coming-for-you scare tactic or if the battle droid commander in charge of the firing had a lose wire, but he couldn't help but hope that the Seps would run out of ammunition before they actually got in range. Actually, if the Republic evac party were to arrive before the Seps got in range, Rex would be extremely happy, but he didn't think that would happen. This was the 501st, after all, things never went well for them.

So Rex focused on the most immediate problem, the one he could actually have some effect on. That was the Jedi General who it turned out had been walking around on a quite-possibly-broken ankle for the last twenty-four hours.

Anakin Skywalker leaned against a crate of supplies, eyes half closed. He must have been in pain, but he didn't show it. He could have been resting, or half asleep if Rex hadn't known better. The Jedi's right ankle was molted purple, blue and black and swollen to twice its normal size. Even if it wasn't broken, it was bad.

"How did this happen?" Rex asked, putting his helmet aside and opening the medkit.

Skywalker shrugged, but didn't open his eyes. "Explosion. I was thrown and didn't land right."

Explosion. That sounded bad. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"Just a couple minor burns, ankle's the worst of it," Skywalker shifted and must have jarred his ankle because he went absolutely stiff for several seconds then relaxed again. "Can you hurry and finish up, please? We are on a fairly tight schedule."

"Yessir," Rex took a length of cloth bandage and began to wrap it around the Jedi's ankle.

"Do it tight," Skywalker ordered. "I'm going to need to be able to stand."

That went against everything in Rex's fairly limited medical knowledge. If the injury was anywhere near as serious as Rex thought it was the last thing Skywalker should be doing was standing, and Rex knew his general well enough to know that standing was the very least of the things the Jedi would be doing. "Sir, I don't think that a-"

Now Skywalker did open his eyes all the way. He leveled Rex with a cold stare. "If you don't bandage it up, Captain, I will."

Of that, Rex had no doubt. "Sir, you could do a lot more damage if you go through with this."

"The Seps will be in range in less than twenty minutes," Skywalker snapped. "If we don't hold them off until evac comes we'll all be dead. The kind of shape my ankle's in won't matter if that happens."

He had a point. Rex continued to wrap the joint, pulling the wrappings tighter than he had before. "Kix is going to kill me," he moaned.

"Not if he kills me first," Skywalker's eyes sank closed again. Rex realized the Jedi was centering himself, marshalling his strength for the battle ahead. "Don't worry," Skywalker continued, "I'll tell Kix I ordered you to do it. That might make him go easy on you."

"Nice of you, sir."

Rex continued wrapping. They sat in silence as the minutes stretched by. Rex finished binding up Skywalker's ankle and tucked the end of the bandage in. "Alright," he said. "Done."

Skywalker opened his eyes and sat up. "Where's my boot?" he asked looking around.

Rex found the requested object and handed it over. Skywalker fished his sock out of the boot and put it gingerly on, then he reached for the boot. Rex watched as the Jedi visibly braced himself, then pulled the boot on in one quick motion.

The reaction was immediate. The color drained from Skywalker's face and he pitched forward until his forehead almost touched his outstretched legs. Rex sat frozen, unable to figure out what to do. "Sir?" he asked.

"Ow," was all Skywalker said. The fact that he was admitting to pain even in those understated terms meant the pain must be terrible.

"You gonna be alright, sir?" Rex asked, it was a pointless question but he felt like he needed to say something.

Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—Skywalker didn't see how pointless the question was. "Yeah," he said. "But I'm going to need painkillers." He held out a hand. It was obvious what he wanted Rex to do.

Rex dug through the medkit and found a bottle of painkillers which he handed to Skywalker. The Jedi sat up slowly and opened the bottle. He shook several white pills into his free hand and tossed them into his mouth. It was a testament to just how often the Jedi was injured that he was able to swallow them dry.

Skywalker leaned back against the crate again. "Alright, now let's just give these a minute to kick in."

Rex began to put away the things he'd taken out of the medkit. He squinted at the sky. "Still no sign of evac."

"They'll be here," Skywalker replied, eyes closed again. "Obi-Wan and Ahsoka always pull through."

"I don't doubt they'll be here," Rex replied. "I'm just a little worried that we won't be when they do."

"We will be," Skywalker said.

He might not have actually believed that, Skywalker tended to exude boundless confidence even when he didn't actually feel it, but Rex didn't push it. They all had their own ways of coping, plus Skywalker's way was good for morale.

All thoughts of coping were washed from Rex's mind when an artillery shell arched over their heads and slammed into one of their AT-TE walkers. Flames flew everywhere. Rex scrambled to his feet and slammed his helmet onto his head. Skywalker sat up straight, eyes open and watchful.

Another clone ran up and snapped into a salute. "The Separatists are in range, sir!"

"We noticed!" Skywalker snapped. "Have our walkers and heavy cannons open fire. Hopefully, the Seps have squandered enough of their ammunition that we're on a level playing field now."

"Yessir!" the clone said and hurried off.

Skywalker looked up at Rex and held out a hand. "Help me up, would you? It's time to give the Seps a run for their money."

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Emjen