As soon as Glory returned to the barracks, she changed into her armour and headed to 79s, the only club that was willing to serve clone troopers without prejudice. The walk wasn't too far and except a light breeze, the weather was pleasant. She spotted a couple other platoons going in the same direction, it was sure to be a busy night for the bartenders and exotic dancers.
"One for the mornin' glory! Two for the ea'ly dew! Three for the man who stands 'is ground and four for the love of you my girl, four for the love of you!"
Glory looked over her shoulder at the familiar accent and terrible singing, she saw Dameron and Chaos Squadron sprinting towards her like a stampede of gundarks. They caught up with her and Glory picked up her pace, hoping they wouldn't recognise her. Today, luck really wasn't on her side.
"Look at this lil' doctor walkin' to the club on 'er own, boys!" Dameron swung a heavy arm around her shoulders, nearly pulling her to the ground. She could smell the alcohol seeping through his pores, "You're lookin' a proper Tutti tonight, Glory!"
"You're drunk, sir." Glory said sternly. She looked for Dodger, but all the pilots had run ahead, leaving her with the completely hammered Captain.
"You ain't 'ad no sip of alcohol, 'ave you?" From nowhere, he retrieved a glass bottle, "This'll 'elp you feel more relaxed."
"Thank you, sir." Glory took the bottle and held it out of his sight.
"Will you sing with me?" He started before she answered, "I likes a lil' drink at the end of the day, to raise up me voice and sing! Spend an 'our or two with a fine brown brew and I'm ready for anythin!"
"Very good, sir." Glory praised once he finished, the fluorescent sign for 79s was only fifty yards away. "Come along now."
"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" He shouted, his hand around her shoulders falling to clap against her rear. Glory flinched at the inappropriate contact but didn't pull away, the bouncer would never believe Dameron was sober enough to enter the club if he staggered inside.
"IDs please." The bouncer asked; Glory displayed her wrist to the scanner and Dameron had enough sense to find his military ID in a pocket of the denim jacket he wore. It was only then that Glory noticed he wasn't in armour like the rest of his squad, he was in civvies. "Have fun, lovebirds."
Glory cringed and was grateful that Dameron was too drunk to register what the bouncer implied. She pulled him inside and led him over to the bar where Chaos Squadron were getting a round.
"Pint of Amb'ostine for me!" Dameron's eyes were focused on the bartender's cleavage, the server noticed and looked at Glory who could only offer an apologetic smile. "And somethin' sweet for the lady!"
"I'll leave you with your squad, Captain." Glory patted his shoulder before stepping away from the bar, he was already engrossed in a conversation with Dodger about pod racing stats.
"Not without your Tumble you won't!" Dameron didn't let her leave until Glory had a cocktail in her hand. Even then he was difficult, "I'll explain that one to you; Tumble down the sink means drink. It makes perfect sense!"
"It sure does, sir." Glory said with a small sigh, she didn't have any hope of understanding why he felt the need to rhyme like that.
It didn't take her long to find the four boys in blue, although she did have to push through the crowds of intoxicated clones. Honour was absent, training for an espionage mission; it was unlikely that she would be finished by the time Torrent were deployed again.
Rex, Coric, Zeer and Denal were sat in a booth, far enough from the dancefloor so the pulsing music didn't interrupt their conversation. It was good to see them all so relaxed and care-free for a bit, it was what they deserved after such a tough mission.
"Someone bought you a drink?" Denal teased, nodding to her cocktail as it was put in front of him.
"Captain Dameron." She replied, laughing awkwardly whilst her brothers cooed, "He's what Honour would call 'kriff-faced'. It's all yours, Denal."
"I see Ventress managed to knock a sense of humour into you." Zeer chuckled from across the booth, Glory resisted the urge to rub the mark on her forehead. She had plans to get a tattoo to cover it, but that depended on how many of the new men could sketch.
"How many squads is Commander Cody transferring?" She asked Rex beside her.
"Either two or three." He took a sip of his Corellian whiskey, held it in his mouth and then swallowed, "Depends on how many return from Christophsis"
Master Kenobi had been held back on Christophsis, to eliminate the remaining CIS forces, until he was called to Teth for Torrent's reinforcements. Since Torrent's losses were so significant on Teth and Rex wasn't willing to take on over 100 rookies from Kamino, he had reached out to other Companies. In true comradeship, many clone officers were transferring their experienced men and squads ready for their Torrent's deployment.
There would be at least two new medics, Glory was especially excited to meet them and have fresh knowledge in their team. Rex promised that when she felt a bit more like herself, he would recruit a shiny medic for her to take under her wing, just like Degree.
"Another round?" Denal stood and looked at Glory, "We're all having whiskey, what do you want? Water?"
"That'll be perfect, thank you." She gave him a big smile, slightly surprised he had already drunk her cocktail but could still hold her gaze. Glancing across the bar, she saw Dameron with his arms wrapped around two Twi'lek exotic dancers, he would have a morphine-worthy headache in the morning.
"Rex is promoting you, Honour and Denal to Sergeants." Coric blurted out once Denal left, quickly receiving a smack around the back of the head from the Captain.
Glory felt her eyes widen, she looked at Rex, "Please don't, sir!"
"Don't freak out." Rex rested a hand on top of hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "It's not a big deal, you'll be fine."
She wouldn't be fine, Jango never trained Glory to take command unless it was for a medical emergency. Honour was the command clone, she loved telling people what to do and being responsible for them; Glory wasn't like that.
"R-Rex, please!" Glory felt a lump form in her throat, "I can't, I really can't."
"You can and you will." Rex patted her shoulder, "Try it for one month, that's all I ask of you. Afterwards, if you still don't want to do it, I'll find someone else. Can you do that for me, Kote?"
"It's really not difficult to play Sergeant." Zeer emphasised, earning a glare from Coric.
"Try to be a bit sensitive, Zeer. She's got enough on her plate without your attitude." Her medic friend looked back to her, "You'll make a good Sergeant, Baby Girl, you have and Sergeant Grumpy if you need any help."
Zeer tried to smile at her, but it came out as w ince, so Glory looked at Rex, "One month?"
"You have my word, I'll set the date in my calendar." She giggled at his comment, "You want to give it a go?"
"For Torrent, I will." Glory took a deep breath to completely calm herself, "Honour won't be too pleased with her demotion."
Honour never had an official rank, but she was treated with more respect than Rex, the men trusted and followed her without hesitation. She would likely be disappointed to be tied to a rank that couldn't make big decisions, the she-clone would be distanced from Skywalker significantly.
"She'll have to see the bigger picture somehow." Rex drained his glass, "But you're right, she'll be a nightmare to begin with."
At that point, Denal returned with a tray of drinks, he distributed the whiskey and Glory's water as if he was being rushed. "A civvie was at the bar, telling his buddies about a pic of Honour he saw on the news."
Dread filled Glory's stomach as Denal explained, "She was making out with some pacifist Senator apparently, in the Senate Building. The cam droid got a clear pic, she was easily identified."
Glory rubbed her forehead, she knew Honour liked male attention, but this had gone too far; Senators were entirely off-limits. They was no sense of privacy on the upper levels of Coruscant, but Honour knew how to be professional in public, at least Glory thought she did.
"Can they do this?" She asked Rex, "Can they just take pics of us without permission?"
He shrugged, "I guess so. What I can't understand is why so many people care about what us clones are up to."
"Nothing to do but sit on their shebs whilst we fight and die for their freedom." Zeer spat, clenching his glass between his hands. Usually, such talk earned reprimands but Rex obviously agreed to some extent, as did the others but Glory wasn't sure if she could understand where the Sergeant was coming from.
As they were about to vacate the club, Glory felt someone tap her shoulder and turned to see Dodger giving her a nervous smile, "Uh, sorry to interrupt, but the Cap's throwing his insides up in the fresher."
Sighing, Glory stood and made to follow the Second, only pausing to tell Torrent to not wait for her, she would return to the barracks with Chaos after sorting out Dameron.
What Dodger told her was an under exaggeration, Dameron was dry heaving on the fresher floor, clinging to the urinal full of vomit as if it was his last hope. Ambrostine tended to have a more aggressive affect than other alcoholic beverages.
"Hey, Captain." Glory crouched beside the drunken man and pulled up his upper body and head, so he wasn't at risk at choking. "Do you still feel sick?"
He rested his forehead on her shoulder plate, shaking his head before vomiting again, all over Glory. It wasn't the first time someone had been sick on her, even in this very fresher, but Glory always despised scrubbing the smell off her armour.
She looked up to Dodger and made a mental note that he couldn't handle sick, his face had gone a little green., "Dodger, can you get a glass of water, please? No ice."
He didn't notice that Glory was giving him an out, he simply obeyed due to the training that taught him that medics could order anybody around. Dameron rested his head on her shoulder again, he was groaning as his body rejected the strong alcohol.
"Don't tell Ri…" He slurred; Glory frowned to herself.
"I won't." She used her glove from her belt to wipe his sweaty brow, "Where do you live, Captain?"
"You wanna come 'ome with me?" Glassy eyes looked up to her and Dameron's brows furrowed, "Riyo?"
The name rang a bell, Glory shook her head gently, "It's Glory, sir, the female clone medic from Torrent. I just want to make sure you get home safely."
"Then let's go!" Somehow, he managed to pull himself to his feet, even though he should've had alcoholic paralysis.
"Easy, Captain." Glory stood and steadied him as he swayed, "Dodger's going to bring you some water and then we can get going."
"Aw, you're so kind." He leaned his chin on her head and Glory tried not to imagine how much vomit was now in her hair, "Think I'm fallin' in love with you."
"You sure about that, sir?" Glory had to laugh, "What about Riyo?"
She had to figure out where she had heard that name before. At this point, Dodger returned with better colour and a glass of water. Glory thanked him and held the glass to Dameron's lips, trickling it into his mouth in small amounts.
Usually, water just made things worse when it came to drinking in excess, but not when it came to Ambrostine. Dameron drank greedily, grabbing the glass and draining it before Glory could react. Afterwards, he dropped the glass to smash on the floor and cheered right in Glory's ear.
"Does he usually drink like this?" Glory asked Dodger as they assisted Dameron out of the club, it was a nightmare trying to get him across the dancefloor as he kept on seeing people he knew somehow.
"Unfortunately. He drinks far too often." Dodger grumbled, Dameron was petting his Second's hair like a loth-cat's fur. Glory frowned, perhaps she would have to test Dameron for gastritis if he was constantly throwing up.
By the time they had made it to Dameron's apartment, Dodger had given up and returned to the barracks to get some rest and Glory was practically carrying over six feet and roughly 200kg of pilot. Dameron was shifting between loopy and fatigued every other minute, he'd already confessed his love for Glory three times, but he also kept on calling her 'Riyo'.
Glory found out where she knew the name from when a young, female Pantoran with purple hair and blue skin opened the door to his apartment. She didn't seem like the softly spoken and kind politician friend of Senator Amidala when she raised a blue eyebrow at Dameron.
"You're late, Slate." Her voice was cool, the same tone Senator Amidala used when Skywalker had needlessly risked his life.
"I've missed you too, babe." Dameron would've fell through the doorway and crushed the petite Senator if Glory wasn't holding him upright, "Glory brought me back."
"I can see that." Gold eyes scanned Glory, lingering on her vomit covered armour and messy hair. "The whole planet saw it."
Glory was more confused than anything else, she just wanted to go to bed, "Am I alright to leave him with you, Senator?"
"That's quite alright, trooper." Senator Chuchi stood to one side and Dameron stumbled inside, immediately collapsing on the luxurious sofa. "You're dismissed."
With that, the door was shut in her face and Glory gladly excused herself. It was only the next day, when she was nursing Denal's hangover with aspirin and toast, that she became aware of why Senator Chuchi was so cold the night before.
A picture had been posted to the holonet after she left 79s, it was a picture of her lugging Dameron through the streets of the upper level. They both wore expressions of amusement, and it was obvious that Dameron was intoxicated as he leaned heavily on the medic. The picture didn't hint that anything was happening between them, Glory was relieved about that, but she still didn't want to explain it to Honour who strongly disliked the pilot.
"I expect I'll see you soon." Honour said defiantly, "I should be done with this mission in the next few days."
"Don't rush it." Glory replied with a smile, "We can handle one planetary mission without your assistance."
They embraced and Glory squeezed her sister tightly, knowing she was worried about the medic. "Look after yourself."
"You too." They pulled away; Glory chewed her lip as she considered the night before. "Did you see the pictures-"
Honour nodded which only encouraged the medic, "You kissed a Senator? In the Senate Building?"
"Let's just not explain, okay?" Honour said with a grin, Glory sighed with relief. "Now go, your squad awaits, Sergeant Glory."
"See you on the other side, Sergeant Honour."
Her talk with Honour was reassuring, even if they were being properly separated for the first time, but things went from bad to worse when Glory boarded the Resolute. She was starting up the computer in the medbay office when Dodger came to her door, knocking lightly.
"How can I help you, Dodger?" Glory asked with a gentle smile, noting he was carrying a large bag over his shoulder.
"The Cap wants this locked up, figured he could trust you." Dodger brought the bag over to desk and partly opened it, Glory's mouth formed a small 'o' shape at the amount of booze and boxes of prescribed amphetamines inside.
"Do I need to have a chat with Captain Dameron?" She asked, trying to keep her voice calm as she took the bag, promising herself to store it securely later. "I'm growing concerned about his… problem."
"Don't bother, I've already tried." Dodger ran a hand through his hair, "He and Skywalker both have a bad habit of believing that flying makes all their problems go away."
"The General is inspirational in that way." Glory peered around the door, grateful there was nobody else in the medbay, "I'm not afraid to get involved, even if Captain Dameron doesn't want me to. It's not fair for you to carry this burden, Dodger."
He waved a hand, all smiles again. "It'll all get better from now, Riyo's giving him one last chance."
Glory was glad that Dameron was prepared to try, "He must think highly of her."
Dodger scoffed, "He better do, he's engaged to marry her."