Author's Note: So this was a response to reading the beginning of What Ever Happened to Captain Rex? Similar thing except in my continuity. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars


The Expelled by November Murray


Part I: "She Must Get Off On Saving My Life, But Damn If It's Not Attractive."

Ahsoka couldn't stop staring at the far too familiar face. It had been almost a year since she'd seen a clone trooper without his helmet on. The amazing resemblance this clone shared with her old captain stunned her, everything from the clean shave cheeks to the blond buzz cut of his hair. The clone stared back from where he knelt on the floor of the Shili senator's floating podium, currently docked to the wall of the Senate Meeting room. He was dressed in a rumpled gray uniform of the Senate Building staff and half packed at his feet were a collection of hypo wrenches and technical tools. It couldn't be, Ahsoka told herself. For one thing, the clones she'd known were all on the other side of the galaxy fighting the cursed war. For another this clone had an unfamiliar expression on his face. His strong brow was relaxed, his eyes heavy lidded and his lips were limp and down turned. All the lines of stress and the hard life of a soldier were still deep but lax with hopelessness. No clone she'd ever known looked so defeated least of all…

"It's me Commander," The clone said, deep voice soft but bitingly bitter.

"Rex?" Ahsoka asked, stunned.

"Yep." Captain Rex of the 501st went back to packing up his tools.

"W-what are you doing here?" She asked. "And you know I'm not a Jedi anymore. I don't have a rank."

"Neither do I." Rex responded as he closed his tool box. Ahsoka opened her mouth with a question but Rex answered it before the words had left his mouth. Using the sides of the podium he pulled himself to his feet, gingerly avoiding his right leg. One hand on the stiff appendage he straightened it slowly before putting any weight on it. Ahsoka shut her mouth. Rex sighed once he was fully upright then slowly, careful of his balance on his good leg, bent to retrieve the toolbox.

Ahsoka stepped forward lightly, scooping it up. She held it out and met his deep brown eyes.

"Don't look at me like that, Commander. I don't need your pity." Rex took back the toolbox, a frown etched deeply on his face and his brows furrowed in anger. "I'm one of the lucky ones. I'm alive." His words were biting, almost sarcastic.

"Rex," Ahsoka wanted to say something but the former captain was already limping around her and away. Just as he was rounding the corner to the hallway Hodahr, Captain of the Shili Senator's Guard, came around in the opposite directions. Dressed as Ahsoka was in the livery of the Shili Royal Clan, stark white fur and brilliant orange silks embroidered with red, Hodahr overshadowed Rex in both height and appearance. The togruta male and clone glanced at each other before passing wordlessly.

"Who was that?" Hodahr asked as he sauntered onto the podium with Ahsoka, standing a little closer than she would have liked.

"An old friend," she replied and turned away, taking her seat at the back rim.

"Oh, from your Jedi days?"

"Yes." She growled sharply, signaling that was the end of the conversation. Hodahr just shrugged. He went about inspecting the podium.

"Well, let's hope your friend did a good job fixing the control panel."

"Did they finally send someone?" Senator Jaina Emala of the Togruta home world of Shili walked regally onto the podium. Her long gray and black lekku stood out starkly against her abnormally pale, green-tinged skin and white robes.

"So it would seem," Hodahr responded.

"I would hope that you thanked him in my stead, Captain," Senator Emala said smoothly, her voice whispery but full of poise and command.

"I will see that it is done," Hodahr replied, he managed to keep contempt off his face but Ahsoka felt it in the Force. She'd only been on Coruscant for a few days in response to a few threats against the Senator but already she was coming to despise Emala's arrogant and dismissive Captain. Silently she was waiting for him to make a mistake that she could report back to the Head of the Royal Guard when she returned to Shili. So far she'd been disappointed but it was early days yet.

"It would seem everything is in order," Emala noted. "The technology at least will be assured to cooperate. If only the other Senators were so easily swayed."

"If they were there would be no need for our presence," Ahsoka noted.

"I dream of that day," Emala replied with a smile over her shoulder at the younger girl. The senator herself was not terribly older than Ahsoka. As the eldest daughter of a powerful clan head, she held sway in Shili society as well as a high ranking elected position. It didn't temper her idealism, something Ahsoka admired as much as she thought it was impractical. Her own idealism had been ruined by reality. Despite that experience, the young ex-Jedi was growing fond of her current charge. "Until then," Emala continued with a sigh, "I will have to rely on good people like you Ahsoka Tano who wield great power with great respect for destruction."

Her words sparked an idea in Ahsoka's brain. Only the calling to order of the Senate by the Chancellor stopped her short. Ahsoka bit back her words. Impatiently she sat through the Senate's long winded and circular debates all the while that spark burned in her mind, taking shape. The more it grew in her mind the more alluring it became the more she fed it attention. It was nearly bursting from her as the day ended and the debates were closed for the night.

Ahsoka followed Hodahr and Senator Emala back to the Shili Senator's office. There Hodahr turned control of the security detail over to his second in command and clocked out for the day. Ahsoka checked the halls and adjoining offices for threats herself to be thorough before putting aside her duties as a protector and taking up her duties as a friend.

Ahsoka knocked lightly on the door of Senator Emala's office.

"Come in." Ahsoka entered. "Ah, Guard Tano, is something wrong?"

"No, I have found nothing to suggest you are in danger, my lady."

"That's a relief. I told his Majesty that I did not think the threats were serious."

"He takes a very active interest in your safety, my lady," Ahsoka replied. The king in fact took a great deal of interest in the Senator's marital options as well considering his eldest son was about Emala's age.

"Yes well, his Majesty is very kind." Emala set aside what she was working on and smiled kindly, "What can I do for you, Ahsoka?" Perceiving this was not a formal matter Jaina motioned to a chair across the desk. Ahsoka took the offered seat, clasping her sweaty hands together in her lap.

"I- I wanted to talk to you about a friend of mine," Ahsoka started awkwardly.

"A friend."

"Yes, I saw him today and… he's changed."

"A Jedi?" Emala asked.

"No, ummm, a clone."

"Oh, from the army." Jaina's personal interest was piqued.

"Yes. He was the captain of a squad I often deployed with."

"I see, so you were comrades."

"Yes," Ahsoka said hesitantly. It was true but it felt inadequate to say that, Rex was a lot more than just a Captain to her. He'd been her mentor and her friend. There were certain things she couldn't talk about with her Master that she could say to Rex without fear. There was a time when she would have said she trusted him more than anyone else in the world. She wasn't sure where their relationship was now, their situations had both changed.

"You don't talk about your time in the army much," Jaina said softly.

"No, it's… uncomfortable."

"You left many friends behind when you left."

"All of them," Ahsoka said honestly.

"Tell me about this friend of yours. I've never met a clone, only been protected by them." She referred to the Clone Troopers that often assisted the Senate Guard.

"His name is Rex. He's a good man, loyal and a fighter. He's the kind of guy who never does anything half way. We had a lot of close scrapes but he would follow Master and me into just about anything. We relied on him… a lot."

"He sounds a little like you."

"Maybe at one time," Ahsoka looked down as she spoke. She wouldn't describe herself as a fighter anymore; that had been sapped from her long ago.

"Is your friend in trouble?" The Senator asked.

"I- I think so. He didn't look so good when I talked to him. He was discharged and I think he's taking it hard. He was the one who fixed the podium console."

"I see. It must be quite a shift, Captain to technician."

"Yeah." Ahsoka wrung her hands together and swallowed before continuing. "It just doesn't seem right. He's the best soldier I know, even if he is injured, I… I don't like thinking of him being…"

"…demoted?"

"…cast aside," Ahsoka finished.

"I would be honored to meet this friend of yours," Emala said. When Ahsoka looked up she saw the soft smile on the older woman's face and a gleam of understanding in her eyes. "He sounds like the kind of man who's good to have around."

"He is. I will arrange it as soon as you are ready." Ahsoka couldn't help smiling.

"I am willing to meet him immediately. You always know where to find me, Ahsoka."

"Thank you, Jaina. I will see if he can meet you tomorrow morning." Ahsoka stood, suddenly filled with anticipation and motivated by hope.

"Good night, Guard Tano."

"Good night, Senator."

.

It wasn't hard to find Rex. Most of the workers arrived and left by the service entrances nearest the rail station. Ahsoka followed her senses there and stood in the ally outside the door. The broiling feelings of anger, self doubt, and listlessness that was the new ex-Captain Rex alerted Ahsoka before the man himself came out, now dressed in non-descript pants and a heavy navy blue jacket, a cap pulled tightly over his head, shielding the recognizable face from immediate view. It also blocked his view of Ahsoka till he was right in front of her.

"The civi's look good on you," Ahsoka said as he approached. Rex looked up, shocked. Shock quickly became a frown and a flash of shame before Rex looked away.

"What are you doing here, Commander?"

"I'm not a Jedi anymore." She reminded him.

"And I'm not a soldier. I have a train to catch." He walked on toward the street, limping slightly on his right leg.

"Rex!" Ahsoka's heart stabbed painfully at the dismissal. "Rex, I have a speeder," Ahsoka said, falling in step beside him, "let me give you a ride."

"I can walk just fine."

"I'm not doubting that." She held up her hands in mock surrender, "I was just hoping we could have a drink." Rex stopped in his tracks. "Catch up… I mean... it's been a while since we… talked." She tried to smile.

Rex stood frozen in place, his mind spinning behind his eyes. Finally he gulped and nodded.

"Yeah," he said, a bit breathless, "that would be nice, Commander—I mean Miss Tano."

"Right this way, Mr. Rex," Ahsoka couldn't help herself. It sounded so strange to hear Rex say "Miss".

"Jaig, Rex Jaig, now." He said, following her out of the ally toward her speeder. "Turns out you need two names in the real world."

"Well then, Mr. Jaig," Ahsoka said as she started the engine, "know of any good places for a drink in Coruscant? I haven't been back in quite a while."

"Can't say I've explored it much."

"I guess we're going in blind then." She shot him a smile and caught the slightest upward twitch to one side of his lips, a hint of the old Rex.

.

They ended up in a lively bar not to far from where Senator Emala's apartment was. The place had a steady stream of people coming and going but booths were set into recesses in the curved wall. The whole floor was a large spiral that wound upward gradually around a center stage where an acoustic band was preforming. It was pleasant and lively atmosphere. No one bothered to notice the young togruta and the clone in civilian clothes sitting tucked away toward the top floor.

"The music isn't bad," Ahsoka noted while they waited on their drinks to arrive.

"Can't hear much of it," Rex said. "Can't hear a thing in this ear," he tapped his right ear. Ashoka realized he'd purposefully put her to his left.

"I wasn't going to ask."

"It's alright, Comman—Ah…"

"Ahsoka is fine so long as I can call you Rex."

"Of course… Ahsoka."

Their drinks were delivered by the waitress droid: a brilliant red Togrutan smoothie for Ashoka and a beer for Rex. They both drank in silence for a minute.

"Are you going to ask?" Rex finally spoke.

"Only if you want to talk about it."

"Better to get it out of the way isn't it?"

Ahsoka just looked back at him understandingly. For a moment Rex mistook it for patronizing but then it dawned on him that Ahsoka alone knew what it was like to have one's identity stripped away. Her life as a Jedi had been torn apart by the false allegations just as his life as a soldier ended suddenly and violently. Rex sighed.

"It was perfect, you know," he started. "The only way our squad was going to get out of that hell hole alive before it crashed in the cursed toxic ocean was if someone stayed behind and guarded the grav controls. That was me. When the Sepies bombed it I was still holding the Tinnies at the blast doors. The transports were taking off. My brothers were safe because of me. Like I said, perfect," Rex gazed off into the bar, not really seeing it. "Only problem was, I didn't die. I woke up in the Med Bay of a Star Cruiser with half of my body numb and my head nearly cracked open." Rex fell quiet for a moment and Ahsoka noticed him rubbing his right leg. "Sometimes it feels like that explosion never ended, it just keeps going in my head. I even hear it some times," he tapped his deaf ear.

"Wasn't there anything they could do?"

"Yeah, General Skywalker saved my life. Dragged me out of the sinking wreckage."

"I mean…" She trailed off.

"No. Nerve damage," Rex explained. "There was shrapnel in my spine, nerves never regenerate quite right, you know. I lost sound in this ear, half the sight in my right eye, some movement in my shoulder and strength in the whole right side of my body. I could still be the best, goddamn shot in the GAR but I don't pass the physical. Official decommission went through four months ago."

"I'm sorry, Rex." Ahsoka whispered, the word decommission echoing in her head ominously.

"Yeah, me too." The soldier muttered and went back to his drink. Ahsoka thought but didn't dare ask, sorry you were injured or sorry you survived? Rex glanced at her and seemed to pull himself out of dark thoughts. "They said I might get a lot of it back, over time. Ear's busted but if I work at it I'll get the full range of moment back in my arm and leg."

"There's hope then," Ahsoka said but Rex as still shaking his head.

"My army career is still over."

Tense silence fell between them again.

"So how did you end up in the Sensate Building as a technician?" She asked.

"I've got the General to thank for that as well. In the down time he taught me a lot about fixing our tech over the years. When he heard I was… not coming back he suggested I be reassigned here. It was this or returning to Kamino." Rex tensed as he said the words and Ahsoka felt tension radiating off him in the Force.

"What would you do on Kamino?" She asked, wondering more to herself than seriously asking. The response from Rex was immediate. It felt like a shiver down her own spine, pure dread and fear. She had felt fear off Rex before, a battle was always terrifying but it was always offset with determination, to fight and go down doing everything he could to survive and insure as many of his brothers as possible survived with him. "Rex?" She turned to him but he was looking out over the bar with a carefully blank expression, sipping his beer.

"A decommissioned clone is no use to the Republic, just a failed investment." He finally said, still unable to meet her eyes.

"That's…" Ahsoka's mouth went dry.

"It's not as bad as you think. Most of us die before we get decommissioned. We prefer it that way."

"Don't say it like that, Rex." Ahsoka's voice was tight with emotions he couldn't recognize.

"Why? Cause it's the truth? Given the choice wouldn't you rather die facing the enemy than with-"

"No." Ahsoka glared at him. "Don't say it like you're jealous."

"I can't be that jealous, I chose this." He responded. Like always he was impervious to her glare, remaining calm and resolute.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, there was something they could do, cybernetic spinal implants."

"That surgery is risky."

"35 percent survival rate risky, yeah. And the recovery is… painful…" Rex looked out over the bar. "Maybe a year ago I would have said yes and taken the risk… maybe… but then I thought about Fives, Echo, even you. It just didn't seem worth it for people who didn't care what happened to me."

"That's not true…"

"If the Jedi Council could turn their back on one of their own, a Jedi, then no way is the Republic going to show any loyalty to a clone, the seven thousand five hundred and sixty seventh of ten million. I'm on borrowed time here already."

"Rex," Ahsoka felt her heart breaking a little to see her friend torn down and beaten so badly by the world. It only hardened her resolution though to help him in any way she could. Ahsoka reached into the folds of her uniform to the hidden pocket where she kept her most prized possession. Under the table she slipped it into Rex's lap.

"What… where did you get this?" He lifted up the lightsaber under the table, careful to keep it out of view.

Ahsoka smirked, "I didn't steal it. Master Obi-Wan came to see me after my trial and brought it to me."

"I didn't think they'd allow you to have it back if you'd left."

"They wouldn't, but Master Obi-Wan had his own ideas. He and Senator Amidala got me this job working for the Shili Royal Guard, protecting Senator Emala." Ahsoka found that once she started talking she couldn't stop. "She's a great woman, Rex, committed to the people she represents and to finding a peaceful solution to this war. I think Jaina's the kind of person you'd respect. She's a lot like Obi-Wan in many ways and she'd like to meet you. Senator Emala values loyalty and experience most, she could use someone like you watching her back when I have to return to Shili."

"Ahsoka, are you trying… to get me a job?" Rex asked stunned.

"Is it so surprising?" She retorted. "Even if the Council abandoned me, my friends never did and I won't abandon you, Rex. You were never just a number to me." She reached over and put her hand over his on the hilt of her lightsaber.

The soldier stared back at her, his hand under hers shaking. For a long moment he was frozen with shock then without warning he smiled, a real smile.

"You haven't changed at all, Commander," He said, eyes glistening.

"Neither have you, Captain," she countered and accepted her lightsaber back. "I told Emala you'd meet her tomorrow."

"You didn't even know if I'd say yes."

"I knew, Rex. We both know, you were never meant to fix podium consoles or disassemble droids with laser fire."

"I might have to disagree with the latter."

"No, you were meant to protect people," Ahsoka said, smiling. Rex paused, glass halfway to his lips and looked at her sidelong before smiling.

Yeah, he thought leaning back and forgetting his pain for the first time, she's right.