"So, this is your plan?" The subtle irritation lacing Wolffe's voice made Rex feel immensely grateful for his cramped corner seat away from his brother. "Hide until you can think of a plan?"

"Until we think of a plan. All of us," Cody corrected, not even sparing his brother a glance up from his datapad.

"Right. We're all squished in here. How could I forget?"

"You can leave, you know." But at Cody's suggestion, Rex saw Wolffe's face harden.

"Well, you could at least update me on your progress." Wolffe leaned over the back of his chair. "What are you even doing on that thing?"

"What? Sad you don't have your own?"

"It'd certainly help, yeah."

Rex heaved a small sigh, wishing he had a datapad of his own. That way, he might not feel so utterly useless.

He also wished they hadn't chosen the smallest, most broken down ship in the entire hangar as their latest hideout. But desperate times called for desperate measures, and Fives had warned them just in time of Anakin's impending arrival at Wolffe's quarters.

Still… It felt very wrong to run.

That's what you did in the first place, wasn't it? That's what she did… But he couldn't have stayed one more moment in the mess without suffocating.

As he sat there, staring blankly at his bickering brothers, Rex continued to mull over the reasons that made him punch Skywalker in the first place.

He didn't deserve it, after all.

Yeah, he did, the barve.

No! Stop it!

He'd acted out of anger, out of hurt and passion. No wonder the Jedi have such a strict code about their emotions. Rex couldn't remember the last time he'd witnessed a Jedi lash out in anger like he had that morning.

Except maybe General Skywalker.

But his general was different, a whole other kind of Jedi.

Maybe that means he'll understand… If anyone were to understand, it'd be him.

Wouldn't it?

Probably not, the cynical part of his mind hissed. Generals have no patience for volatile soldiers.

Volatile clones.

Rex felt his gaze drift to the floor, down to his boots. He always kept them so clean and polished whenever he could. Now, he could see a few scuffs he'd missed when he'd shined them that morning.

Maybe this was because he hadn't shined them that morning. I didn't even have breakfast, he realized when his stomach chose that moment to bite him.

Scuffed… he mused dully. Just like my life.

One scuff for that farce of a trial she'd been forced to endure.

One scuff for Ahsoka's sudden departure.

And one scuff for that awful footage on the security cameras.

Kriff the cameras.

Even though he'd grown up with cameras watching and recording his every waking moment, he'd never been able to get used to the concept. It was invasive, a violation of privacy.

Ah, the voice whispered once again, and Rex desperately wished it would just go away, but clones don't have privacy, do they? They don't have the rights needed for luxuries like that.

Right.

Rex flexed his fingers, hoping the fluid motion would calm his rising anxiety. Only, he found he didn't have any anxiety.

He just felt dead inside. Worn. Battle weary…

And we haven't been deployed for weeks.

Weeks.

Rex wondered how soon they would be expected to return to the field again—and if he would even be there when they did.

Unless you get demoted.

Or worse… decommissioned.

As he shuddered, Cody's eyes flickered away from his datapad and onto his brother. I'm fine, vod.

But his own eyes had never been very good at communicating and Cody's concerned expression deepened.

"So," Wolffe was saying, "I'm guessing it would look bad if we left the facility?"

"What do you think?" Cody shot back, prying his eyes off his brother once more, much to Rex's relief.

"I don't know, that's why I was asking you. Honestly, Rex, can you believe him?" Wolffe shook his head. "Well, can you at least share what progress you've made with the whole group so we're not just sitting here like useless shinies?"

If looks could kill, Wolffe would be well on his way to the next life by now. "I was just looking into a few things."

"All right, I'll bite," Wolffe returned dryly. "What sort of things?"

But before Cody could reply, Wolffe snatched the datapad out of his brother's hands and began studying it closely.

"Hey! Give that—!"

"'General Kenobi,'" Wolffe read aloud, tactfully keeping the datapad mere inches out of Cody's reach, "'we have a situation down at the barracks. If you have any advice at all on the matter, I would greatly appreciate—' Cody! What the—? You're telling Kenobi?"

When Cody finally succeeded in snatching back the pad, he clutched it to his chest as if his life depended on it.

Or someone's life, Rex noted grimly.

"Are you insane? What happened to keeping this on the downlow?"

"The general would never do anything to hurt Rex," Cody defended. "And he might be our best chance."

"The fewer people who know about this, the better," Wolffe insisted, crossing his arms.

"And when someone finds that security footage, then what? Look, I trust Obi-Wan more than any other Jedi out there—even more than Skywalker."

"Cody, you can't—"

"I don't know who else to turn to, all right?"

"Well, you could've at least told us about it before you—"

"Would you guys knock it off already?" It was out of Rex's mouth before he could stop it, before he could even consider the words. His brothers stilled instantly. "Look, we're gonna figure this out, but we won't get anywhere if you two keep going at each other like that! So just, knock it off…"

No one said anything after that. Cody went back to his message and Wolffe returned to his sulking.

"I have to go back."

At first, Rex wasn't even sure he'd even said it. Perhaps it was still just a thought he had yet to voice. Then, he saw his brothers' faces. Cody looked shocked and Wolffe was downright appalled.

"First him, now you?" Wolffe shook his head. "You can't just go back, talk things out, and hope everything turns out all right in the end. That's how fairytales work, Rex, not real life."

"Anything's better than this!" Rex shot back. "Sitting here and doing nothing? Hoping everything will be all right? Look, I'm the one who did it. I'm the one who messed up, so let me go back and talk to the general. I'm sure he'll—"

"Understand?" Wolffe's tone lost some of its biting edge as he sighed. "Maybe. But we can't take that kind of a risk. Not yet. Let's just wait till Cody's done with his message and we'll go from there. Okay?"

Sinking further back into his seat, Rex gave a reluctant nod. "Fine."

Fine…

"Can I at least use that datapad when you're done?" Rex asked after a minute. "It'll only be for a few seconds," he added quickly when Cody every-so-slightly tightened his grip.

"Yeah. Just hang on. I've almost got this sent. It's just loading."

Wolffe muttered something about the typical hanger signal strength, but Rex wasn't fully tuned in. He couldn't get his mind off Ahsoka.

Would it have been too much to ask for a simple goodbye?

He pursed his lips at the thought. I guess so.

Over and over again the trial played in his head. She's not guilty. So why isn't she here?

Why weren't they all on their next mission already? Why hadn't everything gone back to normal yet? Rex didn't ask for much. All he wanted was a sense of normalcy, even if that meant drifting from battle to battle.

Because at least that was predictable. At least it was normal.

"Here." The datapad was in Rex's hands before he could remember what he'd wanted to do with it. "Now, we wait."

"Right," Wolffe said, crossing his arms, "and how long will that take?"

"The general usually responds very quickly to my messages."

"Uh huh. Sure. Define quickly."

While Cody rattled off some sort of timeframe, Rex's fingers flew across the datapad, bending the tech to his will.

Come on, come on!

She had to still have her comlink on hand, right? That meant she had her tracker. That meant he could find her using the database and—Come on…

Wolffe and Cody's light bickering made up the entire ambiance of their hiding place, but Rex couldn't tell what they were even going at it about. He was too focused.

Come on… Give me a signal, here. Come on!

She has to still have it on her. What else could she have—Visions of Ahsoka ditching all her equipment in some Force-forsaken hole in the ground flashed across his mind.

Maybe she didn't even have any of it on in the first place… Still, Rex waited for the datapad to finish its scan. It's worth a try.

And he had to try, even if nothing came of it. If he didn't… Rex pursed his lips and concentrated on the screen. I'd spend the rest of my life wondering what would've happened if I had tried.

"Rex?" Fingers snapped loudly in front of his face. "You there?"

Startled, Rex glanced up from the screen just in time to flinch at Wolffe's second snap.

"What?"

His brothers simply stared at him. "You kinda zoned out on us, there."

"Oh…" Rex forced a shrug, aiming for nonchalance. "Sorry. I was just…" What? Every excuse he came up with wouldn't cut it, so he tapered out instead, hoping one of the others would fill the dead air.

"Just… what?" Cody pressed, his blank expression only thinly veiling his concern. "Rex?"

"Nothing. It's…" The screen search chose that moment to come up negative. Rex couldn't contain his sigh of disappointment. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

Clearing the search, Rex handed the device back to Cody. "Here, I think General Kenobi got back to you."

"What?"" Cody snatched it back up. "How long ago?"

Rex shrugged. "I'm not sure. Maybe a couple minutes?"

Though Cody's expression made it apparent he wanted to scold Rex for not telling him sooner, his mouth remained shut as his eyes scanned the screen.

"Well?" Wolffe nudged, ever the impatient one. "What'd he say?"

"He's wondering if we can meet him at Dex's."

"Where?"

"When?" Rex interjected, ignoring Wolffe's confusion.

"An hour?" The question made it clear Kenobi hadn't set a specific time yet, so Rex nodded.

"Wait," Wolffe began, "did we not just agree it'd be a bad idea to leave the compound?"

That immediately put Cody on the defensive angle. "The general can help us."

"Yeah? What if he can't? He's not a god, Codes."

"He can try. And I think it's up to Rex, not you."

"If it was up to Rex, we'd be suffering the wrath of Skywalker right now."

"Look, we don't have time for this. I need to reply, so how long—?"

"A half hour," Rex decided, eyeing Wolffe and daring him to object. "Tell him we'll be there in a half hour or less."

Cody nodded.

And as Wolffe settled back into his chair, his signature frown of disapproval gracing his lips, Rex hoped to whatever powers were out there that he wasn't making a huge mistake.

After all, one big mistake was more than enough for one morning.

Oh, Ahsoka… He resisted the urge to rub his throbbing temples. Why'd you have to leave us?

Why'd you have to leave me…?