"Maybe if we used this—"

"That might be too expensive."

"No," Padmé said, looking over Rex and Ahsoka's shoulder. "Keep it in there. It's always better to have an option that's a little higher than we estimated—that way, if we find an alternative that we actually want, we're more likely to get funded for the two-week window."

Two weeks—that was how much time both Padmé and Obi-Wan had estimated would be the time for all the chips in the clone trooper army to be deactivated to keep both the politicians and people happy. Two weeks. Around the clock, maybe the task was feasible…but Ahsoka still felt her stomach clench at the prospect. Two weeks. Hundreds of thousands of clones had to receive a fast and safe treatment—and they all had to be done within two weeks.

"And here I thought bargaining only ever worked with pirates and loan sharks," Ahsoka muttered as Rex highlighted the link to the procedure article.

"Politics are all about bargaining," Padmé replied, seating herself back down at her side of the desk. "And every once in a while, you bargain correctly."

"A bargain for hundreds of thousands of lives," Rex said, looking down at the datapad. "So we better bargain correctly."

Ahsoka glanced over at him. He hadn't said much since they had gotten up this morning, save for an exchange of "good morning"s. And then they had followed Padmé into the Senate Building, and Ahsoka had been relieved that they had arrived early enough to not catch too many hostile-looking senators. There were only a few cleaning droids and a few guards—clone troopers who, even with their helmets on, Ahsoka could tell were tense and on the verge of waiting for something to happen.

"They can't stay at the barracks?" Padmé asked quietly, glancing around at the clone troopers.

"Someone's got to keep guarding the Senate Building," Rex had replied flatly.

"But there's the Senate guards—"

"And what's the ratio of Senate guards to clone guards?"

Padmé had gone quiet then, and no one had bothered adding onto that afterwards.

Rex, sensing Ahsoka's eyes on him, looked over at her now. "Something wrong?"

"No," Ahsoka lied. She looked down at her own datapad, trying to focus on the words there. Something about surgical implants, but that wasn't right at all, because they were looking to get the chips out, not put something back in. She clicked out of the article, the datapad bouncing a little under her leg. She looked at Rex again.

His expression had turned stony again, his face looking only colder in the blue light of the screen.

He deserved to be upset, Ahsoka knew. He should feel upset. Everything had turned upside down—everything, and Ahsoka wanted to rewind time so that things didn't hurt so much. More than anything, she wanted to fix everything right then and there, but she couldn't do it herself. She was just one person, and even then, looking at the determined set of Rex's face, Ahsoka had the feeling that this wasn't something for her to own.

Think about what the clones are going through, Ahsoka thought, looking back down at her datapad. She never had a chip implanted in her, telling her to kill her friends and family. She at least maintained control of her body. There had been an occasion once, Ahsoka knew—a blurry memory of a planet that wasn't really a planet and feeling cold and then seeing Anakin and Obi-Wan's relieved faces above her, but Ahsoka couldn't remember too much of what happened to herself there. Just that she hadn't been the same then, either.

But that had lasted only a little while, and she had gotten better. But this—Ahsoka imagined having something that could control her stuck in her body for years. Without her knowledge until being abruptly told by newscasters.

There had to be a quicker way to get all the chips out. A quick, reasonably priced way that would leave the clone troopers unharmed. After all, the inhibitor chips were in their heads, and Ahsoka's blood ran cold at the idea of any accidents. The thought of even one…

"I figured you two wanted to visit the Kaminoans—I could request a meeting with Nala Se," Padmé said. She glanced up around to Rex and Ahsoka. "Lama Su and she would be held in the detention center, but we can persuade them into giving us any information that might have slipped their minds."

Another trip to the detention center, Ahsoka thought with a sinking heart. She had known that would come when they had all spoken at the Skywalker-Amidala residence yesterday. But she shook the feeling off quickly. It didn't matter if she didn't want to go back in there—there were other more important matters, and one inmate can't keep Ahsoka from staying focused. Even if she hated—

Ahsoka took that thought back quickly. She didn't hate. She couldn't hate.

But didn't she? Shouldn't she?

Stay focused, Ahsoka thought. She turned to Rex. "What do you think?" she asked.

Rex set his datapad on the desk. "That was how they got their reduced sentence," he said. "Agreeing to give as much information as they could in what they did to the clones. Us." He pressed his lips together. "But if there's anything that might have slipped their mind, it's worth a visit."

Ahsoka nodded. "So we'll add that to our to-do list," she said.

"Our?" Rex repeated.

Ahsoka paused, her finger hovering over the datapad. "Well, yeah," she said, blinking. "Our." She looked back down at the datapad. "You didn't think you were going in to talk to them alone, were you?"

"I can speak with Senator Burtoni later," Padmé volunteered. "I know that you two have already had your…discussions with her." A wry smile from the senator. "Who knows, she might even welcome me since I haven't twisted her arm in some time."

"Twist her arm as hard as you possibly can, Senator," Rex said dryly.

A wink from Padmé. "Consider it done."

There was a brief smile from Rex at that—just a quick twinge of the lips before he was looking back down at his datapad, and then they were all resuming their search once more. Ahsoka managed to snag down yet another article about brain surgery. She knew they could rely on medical droids, but still, Ahsoka thought about how there could only be so many medical droids on Coruscant. There were other medical outposts, so surely…

There were too many calculations spinning through Ahsoka's head for now. She made a note of it on her datapad: something to consider later.

Ahsoka swallowed back a sigh. At this rate…Ahsoka wasn't even sure if it was medically possible to get results as quickly as people wanted. Or as quickly as even the clone troopers wanted, Ahsoka was sure. She would want to get any chip in her head out as quickly as possible.

Possible—this couldn't be possible. There needed to be some other parameters for the results they wanted…

Possible—

And then some small thought formed at the back of Ahsoka's head. Something that shouldn't be possible that suddenly somehow became possible.

Ahsoka slowly set down her datapad on her lap. Reached slowly into the fold of her clothes, wrapped her fingers around the familiar little shard tucked between the fabric. She could have been imagining things, but Ahsoka could have sworn she felt something pulsing there once she wrapped her hand around it.

Ahsoka swallowed.

Something that shouldn't have been possible…

Padmé lifted her head. "Ahsoka?"

And then Rex was looking at her too, and the room was suddenly much, much quieter than it had been a moment ago, even though no one had been talking then either.

"I'm thinking," Ahsoka said slowly. Before she could lose her nerve completely, she tugged her hand out of her clothes, uncurled her fingers around the crystal to reveal it in its cool blue glow.

"Is that…" Padmé's voice was uncertain.

"The crystal that brought Duchess Satine back," Ahsoka said, looking down at the crystal. As though sensing that it was being thought of now, the crystal seemed to glow a little brighter in her palm. She turned it around in her hand. "And that shouldn't have been possible. By all counts, that should have been medically impossible." She glanced over at Rex. "And right now, removing all the chips as quickly as everyone wants them seems like just as challenging, doesn't it?"

Rex stared. "You mean you want to…" He looked down at the crystal. "Use that."

"It might work," Ahsoka said. She looked at Rex. "I don't know how, but I'm sure if I could contact Bo-Katan again, get in touch with who used the crystal in the first place…" Her voice drifted into silence as they all fell into contemplation about who had used the crystal. And, more importantly, how that very person could possibly be implicated in other political matters.

"Is there anyone else who could potentially know how to use the crystal?" Padmé asked. "Perhaps some of the healers?"

Ahsoka nodded. "Maybe," she said. "It's more than possible. I'm sure that—" She looked at Rex, found the strange look on his face. "What?" she asked.

"That's just one crystal," Rex said. "And there's hundreds of thousands of us." He looked up at Ahsoka. "The sheer numbers—"

"We can figure it out with this," Ahsoka said. "If—"

"Let's look for other solutions."

Ahsoka blinked. She hadn't heard Rex sound so terse before, at least not directed at her. Not recently. Ahsoka blinked again, but Rex was already looking back down at his datapad.

Ahsoka flicked her eyes over to Padmé, who cleared her throat. "We should keep our options open," she said, and Ahsoka couldn't help but feel a little surprised at that too. She would have thought Padmé would—well, not take Ahsoka's side, necessarily, because there weren't any real sides to take, but she had at least expected…

Ahsoka blinked a few more times at her datapad, not making sense of the words floating on her screen. She turned the crystal over in her hands again. The crystal's glow had dimmed a little now, sensing that it no longer held everyone's attention.

Ahsoka pocketed the crystal, even though she still felt it burning in the folds of her clothes.

The crystal was still burning against Ahsoka's clothes when she found herself standing in front of the detention center again. But they were here on their own terms—it wasn't like last time, and Ahsoka figured she should be grateful for at least that much, if she had to be grateful for anything.

Well, that wasn't true—Ahsoka had other things to be grateful for, she knew. Even if all the noise and the worse things seemed to clutter the rest of Ahsoka's head. At one point, Padmé had turned on the news in case there were any updates, and they only just managed to watch a snippet of Duchess Satine's statement. Ahsoka thought it was only fitting that Senator Burtoni would be the one causing the ruckus against the duchess.

"Well," Padmé had said long after turning off the holotelevision, "I suppose that'll make my meeting with her much more…interesting."

"More annoying, you mean," Ahsoka had grumbled, but she was glad—and guiltily so—that Padmé would be meeting the senator and not Rex or herself. She had enough of any more political double-talk.

Or maybe not, Ahsoka thought as the detention center guards led Rex and herself down the halls. She noticed that they passed Barriss' cell door. Ahsoka found herself glancing once, but then she was turning back around, because no, they weren't here for her. Ahsoka focused her thoughts on the Kaminoans instead. That part wasn't too difficult. She hadn't talked to Lama Su or Nala Se since she was a young girl, back when she was still more frequently in contact with medical centers in her earlier missions, but even then, Ahsoka remembered being stricken by the Kaminoans' slow, mild tones. Ahsoka had found them to be a calm people, but now, a chill ran up her spine at how the Kaminoans could be so calm even with the knowledge that they were implanting inhibitor chips into the clones. That had to count as some form of double-talk.

Ahsoka cast Rex a sidelong glance. "Are you okay?" she asked after a little while. She was aware of the guards walking in front of her, but even if they could hear her, their helmets covered up their reactions. Actually, Ahsoka was suddenly tempted to ask the guards the same question.

"We will be," Rex replied, his eyes staring straight ahead. "When we get to the bottom of this mess."

I wasn't asking about you plural, Ahsoka thought. I was asking about you.

But then the guards came to a stop, and Ahsoka had to turn her attention back to the door in front of her. Another red ray-shielded square was the only window into the cell, but even through that, Ahsoka couldn't see the prisoners. They would be at the back of the room too.

"Room's divided," one of the guards said, tapping at the keypad. "Take your time, Commanders."

Both Rex and Ahsoka nodded, and then they were both walking through the cell door.

Ahsoka found the Kaminoans easily—they were standing at the back of the cell just as she'd suspected, but there was another wall of red ray shield blocking out the space between the two Kaminoans. They were clothed in the bright orange detention center garb, which made their already pale skin look even sicklier. Ahsoka would have felt sorry for them if they weren't watching her so…intently. It wasn't just their dark eyes—it was just the way they tilted their heads at Rex and herself, as though they were moreso interesting specimen than actual people.

Keep staring like that, Ahsoka thought, meeting their gazes. See if that helps.

"I assume you two already know why we're here," Rex said. There were two chairs already in the cell, presumably left for Ahsoka and Rex, but Rex didn't sit down, so neither did Ahsoka. She guessed that it wouldn't help much anyways: Nala Se and Lama Su's necks alone made them so much taller than themselves, and Ahsoka figured that they didn't need the Kaminoans to look down on them any more than they already did.

"We were informed beforehand, yes," Lama Su said. His voice was surprisingly slower, deeper than Ahsoka had anticipated.

"Good," Rex said. "Then we won't waste any time. And you won't waste any of ours." His tone was hard, matter-of-fact. Lower than Ahsoka had anticipated, too. But she didn't dare look at him. She kept her eyes on the Kaminoans. She didn't like how Nala Se was watching her. Ahsoka remembered a different time, back when Anakin and herself had come to the aid of a medical center from Grievous' superweapon. How strange everything felt now, Ahsoka realized, looking at the scientist. That the lives Anakin and Ahsoka had saved by coming to the aid of the medical center might not have meant anything—not really, anyways, to Nala Se and Lama Su. Nothing but intellectual property.

"You are looking for answers regarding the inhibitor chips," Nala Se said at last. "We have cooperated. Given you enough information—"

"We're the ones who get to decide what counts as enough information," Rex said. "And given the circumstances, we know that you haven't given enough. So." He neared the ray-shield wall, his hands folded tightly behind his back. "What else is there that you haven't told us about the chips?"

A silence.

And then, Lama Su: "the building of the inhibitor chips was a delicate undertaking that required the greatest of precision."

"It is indeed a feat of great talent and intellectual—"

"Yes, you must be so proud," Ahsoka interrupted.

"But what we need to know is," Rex said in a hard voice, "is how to get those inhibitor chips out. And as quickly and as safely as possible. Within a timeframe of one week."

Ahsoka kept her expression blank as the words settled in. One week—that was one week shorter than Padmé had advised. She saw the exchanged look between Nala Se and Lama Su, and Ahsoka had the feeling that even without knowing the actual time window themselves, they were still just as surprised.

"Impossible," Nala Se said at last. "The procedure is delicate and—"

"You're expecting me to believe that you two didn't create some kind of quick failsafe with your own chips?" Rex asked. He neared the ray-shield wall by a single step. "I'm having a hard time believing that."

Another pause, and then Nala Se said, "Within a week is impossible."

"Figure out a way to make it possible."

"Is removing the chips absolutely necessary in the first place?" Lama Su asked. "Those inhibitor chips cannot function anymore, not without the proper command. And the only one who could give that command happens to be dead."

"Doesn't matter," Rex said sharply. "That chip malfunctioned before."

"Before was an unfortunate accident—" Nala Se started, but then Rex was walking back to the front of the cell. Ahsoka turned around, confused, as the door suddenly slid open. Ahsoka watched Rex's lips move, and then the guard nodded. The door slid shut, and Ahsoka turned back around at the sound of the ray-shield wall come down.

What—

She heard the click of a blaster—no, two blasters—and Ahsoka turned around to see Rex still standing by the door, his hands steady.

"An unfortunate accident," he repeated, his voice low. He wasn't looking at Ahsoka. His dark eyes were dead-set on the Kaminoans who now slowly stood up from their perches. "An unfortunate accident was what took the lives of innocent Jedi and innocent men. Men." He took a step forward. "Not intellectual property, not science experiments, but men. Flesh and blood."

Lama Su hissed, his long neck bending as he glowered down at Rex. "Without the work of our scientists or our work, you wouldn't even exist."

"Maybe," Rex replied. "But without your work, the inhibitor chips wouldn't be here either. And we wouldn't be in this mess, even after the war's over. The war is over," he repeated, adjusting his grip on his blasters. "Your work is done. End it now."

The Kaminoans suddenly stepped forward, but in just a heartbeat, Ahsoka had both her sabers activated and in her hands.

"You heard him," Ahsoka said, twisting her sabers in her hands. "Talk."

"You two are fools if you think mere threats can—"

A deafening blast, and Ahsoka jerked up her head in time to see the burning hole in the little space between Lama Su and Nala Se's heads. Ahsoka looked at Rex. And knew from that glittering determination in his eyes that he had not missed.

"Talk," Rex said.

Another silence.

"Now," Rex repeated.

The Kaminoans both slowly sat back down, and Ahsoka could have sworn their white skin had grown even paler. But Rex didn't drop his blasters, and Ahsoka didn't drop her sabers. She should—someone would tell her that she should, but there was nowhere to tell her that now.

"There is a way," Nala Se said at last. "Expensive, but possible."

"Well," Rex said. "On with it."

A breath.

And then: "The inhibitor chips are meant to remain hidden. They're not meant to be picked up by any medical scanners."

"So?" Rex asked.

"So," Nala Se replied slowly, "I propose a kind of pulse. Something that the inhibitor chips will pick up. A mass pulse should do the trick." A wan smile. "It'll be painful, but it'll be the least harmful method."

"That has to be way out of the budget for the Senate," Ahsoka said when they were walking back to the speeder. "And it still doesn't sound safe." She looked at Rex, and when she found no reaction, she continued, "A mass pulse that just casually deactivates the entirety of the inhibitor chips? With everyone together?" She shook her head. "I don't like it, Rex. There has to be another way—"

"Like that crystal?"

Ahsoka stopped and looked at Rex. Really looked at him.

"You don't want me to use the crystal," she said slowly. "Why?"

"You said it yourself before," Rex said. "It's strange. And if we started using that—"

Ahsoka frowned. "But it might help—"

"Do you really know that?" Rex asked. He sounded tired suddenly, all that ice in his voice from moments before melting away. He rubbed a hand over his face, his hand coming to a stop by his lips as he nodded to the fold in Ahsoka's clothes. The exact fold where Ahsoka had kept the crystal hidden.

"No," Ahsoka replied. "I don't." She started to reach for the crystal, but halfway through, she dropped her hand back to her side. She paused, looked at Rex. He was looking back at her, hands now at his sides. Expecting her response.

But Ahsoka realized that she wasn't the one who was supposed to say anything.

"I don't have a chip in my head," Ahsoka said at last. "And I can't even…" Her voice drifted. "I don't know what this is like for you," she said. She squared her shoulders, lifted her chin. "So whatever decision you decide to make, you have my support." She paused. "If that counts for anything."

They were both quiet, and then Ahsoka saw the beginnings of a smile break over Rex's face. "Trust me," he said. "It does."

Ahsoka smiled.

"So, it's my turn to fly, right?" she said, gesturing to the speeder. Without waiting for a response, she hopped into the speeder and started up the engines. "Next up, Senator Amidala's office…"

Rex slipped into the seat next to Ahsoka, and as the speeder lifted into the air, he said, "And the same goes for you."

Ahsoka paused. Turned to Rex. "Meaning…?"

"Decisions," Rex replied. He cast Ahsoka a sidelong glance. "I 'spect you've been thinking about those."

Ahsoka's heart jumped. "Did you…"

"Might have heard you say something to the general," Rex replied. He looked out to the front of the speeder. "I'm not exactly an expert on the Jedi, but I've caught on to enough." He glanced at Ahsoka again. "At least, the compassion part. Something you lot have talked about before. Back when you were still…" He gestured, lowering his hand up to his shoulder. A mockery of Ahsoka's height from back when she was a Padawan. Back when she was still a part of the Order.

And despite the flip-flopping of her heart in her chest, Ahsoka managed a smile. "I wasn't that short."

"You're right," Rex said seriously, lowering his hand even farther.

Ahsoka huffed out a breath, turned back around to the speeder lanes.

They were quiet for a little while, and then Rex said, "So…that little talk you had with the general. You didn't mean to let that part slip out, did you?"

"Maybe not," Ahsoka replied. "Just old habits."

"Old habits," Rex repeated. Ahsoka felt his eyes on her again, but she concentrated on the speeders in front of her. A few beats of silence, and Ahsoka thought that he had let the matter go, but then he asked, "What's keeping you from…the rest?"

Ahsoka didn't need to ask him to clarify what he meant. And she supposed she shouldn't have been surprised—they'd worked so closely for so long now, and frankly…Ahsoka shifted her hands against the controls.

"I don't know," she replied quietly.

Another pause.

"Does it have something to do with her?"

Ahsoka tightened her hands on the controls. "I don't want it to be," she said. Her voice was small, even to her own hearing. But she knew that Rex could hear her, because she could still feel his attention. "I really don't want it to be," she said.

A silence.

And then Rex, quietly: "But you don't think you have a choice."

Ahsoka watched the speeder in front of her. "No," she said. "I don't think I do." And then she looked at Rex. "But that's something that I'll figure out later. Because right now, we've got other things—more important things. Like this pulse thing." She smiled, but Rex didn't smile back.

But then he turned to the speeders too. "Well," he said. "If you ever feel like paying another visit…" He looked behind them, to where the detention center was growing smaller and smaller in the distance. He looked at Ahsoka, the offer not needed to be spoken aloud.

So Ahsoka nodded, and they rode their way to Padmé's office in silence.

A/N: As always, reviews/follows/favorites are greatly appreciated!