Star Wars does not belong to me. Just Skylar & Co.
Big thanks to Janizary, DarthZ, TheStoopeds182, laloga, NC Writer, and ComradeGoonie for reviewing! You guys are awesome!
Fives walked right behind Echo and Skylar, listening to them on their private channel and laughing quietly as the two argued over rules. Every time that Echo quoted a regulation, Sky had a quick rebuttal. If anyone else besides Fives was listening in, they would have assumed that the ARC with the hand-print on his chest plate was getting frustrated with the Mandalorian sergeant. In all actuality, Fives' brother was enjoying himself. No one had really taken the time to discuss the regulations with him before.
Echo turned his helmeted head to give Fives a quick glance, "Where did you find a girl like this, Fives? And how come you didn't get me one too?"
Okay, Echo's in a really good mood. I've never heard him joke like this.
Skylar laughed as the three of them continued to lead the way through Lola Sayu's winding tunnels.
Then, everything went south. Echo saw a seemingly abandoned starship. He rushed off and Skylar took off after him, yelling for him to come back. Fives froze behind the outcropping of rock that he'd taken shelter behind as laser bolts appeared seemingly from nowhere. The ship exploded and two helmets landed at his feet. One belonged to his closest brother. The other belonged to the woman he cared about. The insides of both helmets were charred black.
"Echo! Skylar! NO!"
Fives jerked awake, breaking into a cold sweat. That was even worse than the dream he'd had on the way to Zygerria. He forced himself to take slower breaths and tried to reassure himself. He checked his comlink to make sure that he hadn't missed any calls and gave a sigh of relief when the device showed that he didn't have any messages whatsoever.
Gabe or Deena hadn't called. That means that Skylar's still hanging on.
It had been four days since Skylar's lungs had quit on her. The medics, with the help of Doz and Fidget, had been able to resuscitate the woman. But her breathing had been too shallow. The medic assigned to her, the Mon Calamari, had insisted that Sky be put on life support. Four days on the machine and she still hadn't shown any signs of improving.
Not that Fives would know. Two days after the incident, he'd been shipped out again. This time to assist the 501st again. None of Skylar's family had been happy about that. Tea had actually gone ballistic. Fives grimaced, remembering the way the little girl had clung to him, crying harder than he'd ever seen her do before. It had taken him forever to get her to calm down.
She'd made him take her doll with him. And she'd made him promise, several times, that he'd call whenever he could. Speaking of which...
Fives checked the chronometer on the wall of the cabin that he had all to himself. The first night he'd woken up on the Destroyer, he'd fully expected to see Teanna nestled against him.
He shook his head, making himself focus. It was 0341, Coruscant time. Tea would still be asleep. I don't want to wake her, but we're fighting in a few hours. He reached under his pillow and pulled out the Tooka doll, running his finger over it's face as he agonized over what he should do. There's no way that I could go back to sleep now. But... I need to now how Sky's doing. And I did promise Tea... "Osik!" Might as well.
He clicked in the security number that Skylar had showed him, the one that Mereel had given to her, and then punched in Gabe's number.
"Fives, do you realize what time it is?" Gabe said irritably. That surprised the ARC Trooper. Gabe never used that tone with anyone. Briika must have been giving him a hard time.
"Sorry, ner vod. I just needed..."
"Sky's okay, vod'ika," the older clone responded, gently this time. "She's still in the coma. But her breathing's stronger than when you called last. Not by much, or I would have called you sooner."
For the first time in days, Fives finally found himself beginning to relax. Slightly. He was about to ask if he could talk to Tea, but the little girl's voice interrupted him.
"Uncle Gabe, it that Fives? Can I talk to him?" So that's why Gabe's in a bad mood. Both girls are keeping him up.
There was a muffled 'yes' from the older clone, a rustling sound, and then Teanna's voice spoke, "Fives! I miss you. When are you coming home?" Her eagerness to see him was almost enough to get his mind off of his worry for her mother.
"I miss you too, Squirt." I don't know why I even started calling her that. But it fits. "It'll be a little while before we're done here." There is no way that I'm going to tell her that I'll be fighting on the front lines in the morning.
"Are you fighting tomorrow?" Her little voice sounded so pathetic. I keep forgetting how smart she is for such a little girl.
He sighed, resigned, "Yes. But I'll be careful like I always am."
"You promise?"
"I promise, Tea."
"T'ika, Fives has to work tomorrow," Deena's voice spoke softly. The woman must have just gotten back to the apartment. "And you need to get back to bed."
"Awww. But Aunt Deena-"
Fives chuckled, "You need to listen to your aunt, Squirt. I'll call you the next time I've got some free time. Okay?"
"Okay. I love you, Fives."
He paused. That's the first time she's said that. But can I say the same and mean it?
"Love you too, Tea. You be good for your aunt and uncle."
"I will. Be careful. Bye!" The link went dead. And Fives found himself laughing at the little girl's antics.
He looked up and nearly choked. Rex was standing in the doorway, arms crossed. He'd been so caught up in talking to Sky's little girl that he hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings. Rex must have just gotten off watch on the bridge. Fives knew that his former CO was relieved to be off guard duty, now that General Skywalker and several other Jedi, along with a few of Fox's men, were headed to Naboo with the Chancellor. Rex, like Fives, hated sitting around while his brothers were fighting. Every clone felt the same way. Even some non-clones, like Sky. She won't be too happy when she finally wakes up. If she does...
"Who was that, Fives?" the Captain asked, eyes narrowing.
Fives cleared his throat, uncomfortable. Skylar had already told him that Rex was on to them. I need to be extremely careful.
"Tea." He watched in astonishment as Rex's features softened.
The hardened Captain unfolded his arms, "How is she?"
I keep forgetting that Teanna's as close to Rex as she was to General Kenobi. The blonde clone was genuinely worried about the headstrong little girl that he'd tried to protect on Kadavo.
"As good as can be. She'll be better when her mama actually wakes up." Fives tried to keep the longing out of his voice when he mentioned Skylar.
"How is Sergeant Cordav? Jinx said that she's in a coma, but I haven't heard anything since."
"Her lungs gave out four days ago." Rex's eyes widened. "She's still alive," Fives added hurriedly. "Just on life support," he finished glumly.
Rex winced. "You're close to her, aren't you?" Oh no. This is great. Just great.
"Tea probably thinks of me as another uncle." Even to him, that sounded awful.
"I'm not stupid, Fives. There's something going on between you and Sergeant Cordav. You know that fraternization among the ranks is against regulation," Rex admonished firmly.
"No, it's not." Fives wanted to smack himself right then. I as good as told him that I care for her.
Rex's eyes widened. No, I made him think that she and I are together. I'm too worried about Skylar that I can't even think straight.
Fives rolled his eyes, "No, we're not together."
"Even if you want to be." It was a statement, not a question.
He sighed, even though that was tantamount to an admission. "Rex, we've got a battle tomorrow," he stated as he, very carefully so that the Captain wouldn't see, slipped Tea's Tooka doll back under his pillow.
The battle had lasted three long days. And, finally, they were headed back to Triple Zero. They'd won the battle but the KIA count was way too high, in Fives' humble opinion. At least that wasn't due to a treacherous Jedi like Krell.
Fives was cleaning his blaster when Tup sauntered over to him, "Hey Fives. Long time no see. How's it like working with a Mando?" Tup almost said 'sir.' He's still getting used to things.
"Alright. They're not all as bad as we thought. You know that the Alpha ARCs and the older commandos were mostly trained by Mandos, right?" He only asked that question to keep Tup from asking about Skylar. Cleaning his blaster was the only thing he could think of to keep himself distracted.
Tup, a look of astonishment on his face, sat carefully on the crate closest to the ARC and Fives noticed that in place of the rookie's right shin plate there was a bandage.
"You okay, Tup?"
"Fine, just shaved me." If anything, the kid looks pretty satisfied with himself.
The ARC was quiet, his thoughts again on Skylar. He'd get to see her again in just an hour. As soon as he'd finished debriefing. But for how long? He wanted nothing more than to sit by her side until she woke up. A small part of him wished that he'd be the first thing that she saw when... if...
"Something bothering you, Fives?"
He shook his head. Am I that transparent? Tup was looking at him expectantly. I guess I am. I can see why Sky didn't want... Fives quickly derailed that train of thought.
Thankfully, that was when the docking procedures began. Tup and Fives went their separate ways. And Fives breathed a sigh of relief. He really liked Tup, but a lot of the younger clones were a little too curious. He'd been that way himself, not too long ago. Before he'd lost his brothers. And before Sky... Skylar, you've got to get better. Please.
"Hey, Fives!" Tup's voice called out to him again. The ARC Trooper turned to him, "You do know that General Kenobi's alive, right?"
Cordav remembered Fives talking to her. And she remembered the feel of his lips against her forehead. He kissed me. But that wasn't what was preoccupying her right then. What was bothering her was the tube in her throat. She felt like she was going to gag if she couldn't get it out. But her hands wouldn't respond. She willed herself to move, but something just wasn't connecting.
Slowly, Skylar opened her brown eyes, shutting them quickly. Those lights were just a little too bright. Even slower this time, she opened her eyes, giving them time to adjust. She was in some kind of room that had off-white tiles on the ceiling. That didn't help much. For all she knew, she could have just passed out in an office building. Not that that's ever happened before. Still wouldn't explain the thing in my throat, though.
She tried turning her head and instantly regretted it. Doing that made the urge to gag even worse.
"Sky?" She recognized the voice. It was Gabe. What's he doing here? She found herself wishing that Fives was there instead. Selfish! Gabe's probably worried out of his mind as it is!
He took her right hand and it wasn't until her fingers wound around his that she realized that she'd finally gained some semblance of control over her hand.
He stroked her face with his other hand and she blinked again. Gabe, if you don't get this tube out... I don't care how you do it, just get it out!
It was a relief when an alien in a medic's scrubs finally came into the room. Skylar resisted the urge to cough as the Mon Calamari slipped the tube out of her throat. And then the one out of her nose that she hadn't even noticed until right then. Feeding tube. I was on a feeding tube. My family's probably ballistic right now.
When both annoying objects were removed, she gave the medic a scornful glare, "Was that really necessary?" Cordav had been going for threatening, but her voice was weak and scratchy. She sounded more like a whiny rich kid than a battle-hardened warrior.
The medic exchanged a look with Gabe, who smiled apologetically, "Sorry about that, sir. Sky's not used to being taken care of. I'll explain it to her, if that's alright?"
The fish-alien nodded quietly and left, taking the hateful things with him. Skylar turned her head towards her brother, since she was unable to sit up.
He leaned forward in his hoverchair and kissed her forehead, much like F'ika had done. But it sure didn't feel the same. How long ago was that exactly? And where's my Tea?
"First off... Don't you ever scare us like that again," he said firmly, but gently.
"Gabriel. Tell me what happened before I go crazy. Gedet'ye." She winced at how weak her voice still sounded.
osik = crap
ner vod = my brother
vod'ika = little brother
gedet'ye = please
Please R&R.