Just for Kix

Disclaimer:I do not own the rights to Star Wars: The Clone Wars or any related titles, characters, plots, settings, etc. These rights are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm, Dave Filoni, the Walt Disney Company, and their various publishers and distributors. I own only the original elements of this story, the writing and publishing of which earn me no money.

Neutralized

It was standard procedure that life-forms be treated with respect. Even the worst being was worthy of respect, to be given before, during, and after treatment. Even if the patient did not survive, their remains were treated with a care and dedication that bordered on sacred.

All medics were trained to give this respect and it was expected of them. Every patient, from the Chancellor to a wild anooba, deserved to be treated as a living, thinking creature. Medics were always supposed to act with the weight of a being's hopes, memories, and experiences in the forefront of their minds.

These practices spawned a number of related rules. Medics must always act as though the patient could hear them. In the correct circumstances, beings had been hanged, not hung. And patients, even ones with whom a medic had disagreed, should be given all possible deference.

Kix had observed all of these rules throughout his time as a medic. He held them close, considered them sacred.

But it was without a single pang of guilt that Kix roughly checked Krell's remains for a pulse and, having found none, said, "The threat has been neutralized."

Rex relaxed slightly, holstering his modified deecee while Fives retrieved his own from Dogma's limp grip. The captain had yet to replace his helmet after the drama of Krell's last moments, so Kix could see the coldness on his commanding officer's face as he gave a single nod. "Good."

Jesse and Fives made noises of agreement and the room fell silent, save for Dogma's odd, hitching breaths.

Kix turned his attention to his brother, recognizing the signs of shock even before he felt Dogma's cool skin. He took the trooper's pulse. It was high, extremely so, and Kix pitched his voice low in an effort to calm the man when he spoke.

"Dogma, your heart is beating too fast and your breathing is too shallow," Kix said gently. "I need you to take a few slow, deep breaths for me. Can you do that?"

There was no response from Dogma, who only stared at Krell's body with a mixture of horror and revulsion. In his peripheral, Kix could see their fellow troopers exchanging concerned glances. "Follow my breaths, Dogma," Kix instructed, loudly breathing in and out.

Dogma took a few breaths with Kix, but as his heart rate began to lower, he began to speak. Well, not speak, exactly. It was more like a mindless chant. "No, no, no, no, nononono, nononononono-"

"Hey," Kix broke in harshly, hoping to surprise the trooper out of the loop he had put himself in. "Stop that."

"Stop that? Stop that?" Dogma asked wildly, turning his blank gaze in Kix's direction. "I shot him. I shot a Jedi! He's dead, and it's all because of me."

"Good," Fives said firmly, lowering himself onto a knee by Dogma's opposite side. "He was a Seppie traitor and he would have killed all of us."

Dogma didn't appear to hear Fives' attempts at edification. "That's a court-martial at least, and they'll send me back to Kamino. I'll be reconditioned. If I'm lucky, they'll make it a quick death, but-"

"Stop, trooper," Rex commanded in his sharpest Captain voice. Dogma fell silent. "We don't know what's going to happen back on Coruscant, but we know what happened here. Because of you, we don't have to worry about that skanah ori'jagyc killing us all in our sleep or sending Dooku the coordinates of every Republic asset."

"I need to be taken into custody," Dogma insisted, tucking his arms behind his torso and holding them ready to have binders placed around his wrists.

Rex stared down at him for a long moment before nodding once to Jesse. The trooper pulled Dogma to his feet and pulled his arms around so that they were held more comfortably in front of Dogma's hips rather than levered behind them.

"Prisoners are to have their arms secured behind the torso," Dogma muttered automatically.

"Not today," Jesse told him, voice ringing with finality.

When Dogma had been put into binders and he was ready to be led away, Captain Rex snapped a salute to the trooper. Kix and the others followed suit until poor Dogma looked thoroughly overwhelmed. He bowed his head and stared at his hands until Rex gave a last nod.

"Jesse," Kix called. When Jesse looked back, he instructed, "When the Resolute arrives, take Dogma directly to the medbay, not the brig."

"Understood," Jesse agreed immediately.

As Dogma was led away, Kix caught sight of a single tear track down his tattooed cheek and his heart tightened.

Kix hated to see his brothers suffer and they had done more than enough of it on this cursed planet. He steadfastly refused to see his brothers suffer any longer. Even as Dogma left the room, spine straight and shoulders heavy with the knowledge of what would happen to him, Kix was plotting alternatives.

Author's Note - I know this was really short, but this is the only true outtake featured in this story. This was the original set-up for Dogma's chapter of Nobody Listens to Kix, but I decided I didn't like it as much as I liked the idea of seeing the aftermath in the medbay. Of course, this did give me the idea for the medic's oaths, so I wanted to toss it in here. Still, this chapter was short enough that I didn't want anyone to wait a full week before reading it. Quick head's up: the next two chapters are full of straight-up ANGST. I know that's not typically my thing, so I wanted to give a warning. I do have at least one more cheerful chapter coming after that, though!

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