Darkness was his mind's first friend as he slowly blinked back into the world of the living.
And what a clingy friend it was as even after several hard blinks, it wouldn't seem to leave him alone. Suffocating him, choking him.
Blind… No, please… He blinked again, to no avail. I can't be blind…
Please, I can't…
A shaky hand swiped across his helmet's display screen, yet the darkness remained.
Breathe… He needed to breathe…
With a sharp gasp, Rex tore off his helmet.
His regret was immediate as dust mixed with ash and dirt slid down his throat and clung to his lungs.
A series of coughs had him lusting for water, for something—anything—to clear his clogged throat.
Another series of raspy coughs echoed through the blackness, seeming to answer his own, and Rex jolted. It proved to be a bad choice of movement because a bolt of pain shot through his head.
He'd fallen pretty far, that much was clear by the echo… And, of course, his previous blackout.
Now, if he could only see—
Rex hissed as a sudden white light flashed across his eyes, seeming to eat at his pupils and threatening him with a truer blindness from which he might never return.
"Hey!" He could help but shout—as if it would even do any good—and began flailing to find the source of the light.
"S'rry…" Someone murmured in a tone that sounded as dead as Rex felt.
That's when his groping hands found Kix, and he couldn't remember ever being more relieved to hear the medic's voice.
"Hey… Stop that!"
A weak hand batted Rex's out of the way, but the captain was determined to relieve his eyes of the searing brightness. Locating his brother's helmet floodlights was the easy part. It was getting Kix to stop trying to shove him away that posed the most difficulty.
"Would you cut it out?" Rex snapped, his pounding head and lack of vision having drained his patience long ago. "You're blinding me!"
One short struggle later, Kix finally acknowledged Rex with a small "Oh…" By that time, Rex had already succeeded in pointing the lights out of his suffering eyes and off into the distance.
"Sorry." Kix sounded as confused as he did sheepish, but Rex wasn't paying attention. His main focus was on clearing his vision.
He needed to see.
He needed to…
There! A sweet breath of relief left his lungs. Finally.
Because he wasn't blind. He wasn't…
Kix…
He scrambled over to his brother, who lay curled against a wall of earth.
Right. The earthquake.
It all came back to him in one terrible flash.
A thick line of seppies.
General Skywalker warning everyone through their comms of the initial tremor.
Jesse's cry of surprise and horror as the ground split open beneath their feet.
Fives making a dash for them only to be thrown backwards by an untimely Separatist bomb.
Kix's shout for help.
Rex's own sharp cry of distress as the earth sucked him down, down, down…
Then, nothing.
And now, Kix.
Kix…
"S'rry… 'bout the light." When Kix shook his head, the lights danced. "I mean… Yeah, the light."
"Kix!" Rex knelt at his side, ignoring the light pain in his ankle. "Are you all right?"
Silence.
Oh, Kriff…
"Fine," the medic breathed finally and Rex sat back on his heels.
"Good…" But his relief was short lived as he heard Kix suck in a breath. "All right, trooper. I want an injury report now."
"My head." Rex could almost picture the dazed expression he might find if he lifted off Kix's helmet. "And neck…? And wrist, I think…"
Neck. Not good.
"Can you move it?"
In reply, Kix slowly jerked his wrist around.
"No, no. Your neck. I need to make sure you're not—"
He couldn't say it. No, that would make the possibility too real.
"Paralyzed…?"
Rex resisted the urge to shiver, even though Kix's tone had been somewhat humorous.
"Just try to move your neck, okay?"
With a nod, Kix did what he was told.
And Rex sighed again.
"Thank goodness," he mumbled.
Fiddling with his own helmet, which sat useless in his hands, Rex attempted to turn the flood lights on.
Vaping thing must've broken during the fall.
"Kix, can I borrow your lights?"
A nod was all he needed before he reached out gently, pulling the helmet off his brother and shining the bright beams into the darkness above.
Kriff.
What looked suspiciously like the twisted structure of a collapsed building sat wedged between the original gap a mere ten feet over their heads.
Kriff.
"Rex?" His brother's voice was one of subtle concern and Rex forced himself to make eye contact with the felled trooper.
"I'll be honest, it's not looking good."
"Are we gonna get out of here?"
"Yeah." Rex glanced down at the comlink on his arm. "But not on our own."
A few sharp crackles and fizzes later and Rex had hailed Commander Tano.
"Commander, Kix and I got caught in the quake. I'm sending you our coordinates. We need an evac ASAP," he began, trying to keep his voice calm.
Because he was not claustrophobic.
"It's all in your head, vod'ika."
He pushed Cody's voice out of his mind and focused on the commander's staticky tones.
"Anakin's not answering my calls," she was saying. "I think he fell during the earthquake, too."
"How long do you think?"
A sharp crackle. Then: "I don't know. Are either of you hurt?"
"Negative." Rex swallowed, sparing Kix a glance. "We'll be all right for awhile."
"I'll try to get there as soon as I can," she promised, but he could hear the tinges of doubt. It all came from knowing someone too well…
"We'll be here," he replied and tried to smile.
For once, he was grateful it was only on audio. While the sight of her face would've been reassuring, he was certain his would've betrayed him. "Don't worry about us, Comma—"
"Are we gonna get out of here?"
"Yes, Kix, don't worry," he reminded his brother before closing out the conversation with Ahsoka. "We're gonna be fine. Commander Tano's coming for us."
She's coming…
"Can you walk?" It was a stupid question, really. It always was, seeing as no injured person could possibly know what they were capable of until they got up and tried.
Kix gave a small grin. "I wrenched my wrist, not my ankle."
That makes only one of us, then, Rex thought as he continued to ignore the growing pain in his foot.
Fine. It'll all be fine later.
Helping Kix to his feet, the two set off on a methodical scouting of the surrounding area.
For the most part, the medic was unusually quiet, and Rex found it strange that he hadn't even once been interrogated about the state of his physical health. Normally, Kix would be all over him, trying to unearth even the slightest twinge of pain.
"Are we gonna get out of here?"
Rex stopped, frozen in his tracks. Ever so slowly, he turned towards Kix, who stared at him with expectant amber eyes.
"Kix… You realize that's the third time you've asked that same question, right?"
"What?" Kix shook his head, then winced. "No… No, I didn't. I think you hit your head a bit… a bit too hard there, Rex."
"Or one of us did…" Kix simply raised a lethargic brow as Rex pointed the lights at his brother's eyes. Even under the pressure of the light, the pupils refused to grow larger or smaller. In fact, Rex couldn't be sure they were even the same size.
Kriff.
"Hey! Cut that out!"
"Sorry," Rex apologized, lowering the helmet turned flashlight. "You… said your head hurts, right?"
"Yeah. Doesn't yours?"
"Well, yes, but—"
Kix's tell-tale eyes widened. "You… You think you have a concussion?"
"No… I think you do, Kix."
Silence.
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"Oh…"
It appeared to take Kix a moment to comprehend this fact. A moment that Rex used to further inspect his brother. Confusion, forgetfulness, dilated eyes, an aching head, sluggishness…
It all checked out.
And Rex really wished it didn't.
"Hey," he soothed as Kix began to panic. "You're gonna be fine. We just need to wait until Commander Tano arrives. And you need to work on staying awake."
"Well… I wasn't… wasn't tired before you mentioned sleep." Kix started, nearly launching himself into a heap of dirt and debris. Rex grabbed his arm. "What… what if I can't?"
"Can't what?"
"Stay awake? Rex, what if I can't?"
The captain wrapped an arm around his trembling brother. "Well, that's what I'm here for."
They continued their search, hoping they wouldn't find any more injured troopers. All the while, Rex kept an eye on Kix, who stumbled every so often or repeated something he had no recollection of saying in the first place.
A dead end forced them to backtrack and it wasn't long before the floodlights landed on another fallen brother.
"Jesse!" Kix cried, but when he tried to rush towards his brother, he tripped on his own scattered mind and went sailing across the ashen earth.
Kix's name got caught in Rex's throat as he tried to reach out to break the medic's fall. And failed.
"K-Kix…?" Rex winced at the sound of Jesse's hoarse whisper. He wanted to run to his brother and diagnose the awful gurgling sound that laced his coughs, but Kix was his first priority, and the medic had yet to pick himself back up off the ground.
"Kix?" Rex whispered, though he wasn't quite sure why. There was no reason for quiet, and yet he felt strange speaking above a near whisper. He gently hoisted his brother to his feet. "Are you all right?"
"Rex…" Kix replied with a low hum. "When're we gonna get outta here…?"
"Soon, vod. Soon."
I hope.
"But right now, you need to see to Jesse, okay?"
Nodding, Kix continued his advance, sinking down beside his fallen brother with a huff.
Rex joined them mere nanoseconds later.
"What…?" Kix shook his head again and Rex watched him blink hard a couple of times. "What… hurts?"
Jesse didn't speak, choosing instead to clear his throat with another string of coughs. Rex had his brother's helmet off in seconds, freeing Jesse from its close confines.
"Better?"
Jesse only nodded, his smile resembling more of a grimace.
"What's wrong, Jesse?" Rex asked when Kix appeared to have zoned out. The trooper just shook his head. "Come on, you have to work with us, here."
"I'm fine," Jesse ground out through clenched teeth.
"Don't make me pull rank on you, soldier."
"Fine." Jesse sighed. "My head hurts a little and—Ouch! Hey!"
Rex mercilessly shined Kix's helmet lights in Jesse's face, hoping he wouldn't find what he feared most.
When the amateur examination was complete, Rex sat back on his heels—which proved instantly to be a bad idea as his ankle shrieked in protest.
"No concussion."
"That's… good, I guess?"
Rex jerked a thumb at Kix. "I'm pretty sure he has one."
He didn't miss the way Jesse paled slightly. "Oh."
"So, whatever injuries you might have… Well,"—Rex rubbed at the back of his neck and shrugged, trying to play off the situation as casually as he could—"I don't think he'll be of much help."
Jesse grinned. "Well, it's a good thing I'm fine."
Rex raised a brow.
"Really, Captain, I'm okay. Other than a headache, I'll be fine."
"All right," Rex sighed and offered a hand out to his brother. Jesse's mild hesitation shook Rex more than he cared to admit, but at last, the trooper's gloved hand met Rex's own and he was pulling Jesse to his feet in no time.
"You sure you're all right?" Rex asked, not particularly caring for the short, heavy breaths that jolted Jesse's chest.
"Fine."
With a nod, Rex helped Kix up as well.
"We have to go back to where I found Kix," he explained as the trio slowly started forward. "That's where Commander Tano will be looking for us."
Jesse perked up at that. "The commander's looking for us?"
"Yeah. So, I suggest we get back before she misses us."
Despite their initial resolve and Rex's motivating words, the pace was slow going. He wondered briefly if this was how the Hutts felt on a daily basis. Their pace was mostly due to Jesse, though Kix's movements were becoming more sluggish by the minute.
"Jesse, are you sure you're—"
"Look, I'm fine, all right?" Jesse snapped, tacking on a belated "Captain" at the end for good measure.
"You're never gonna become an ARC trooper if you lie to me, soldier."
He pretended not to notice the way Jesse rolled his eyes. "What does that got to do with anything?"
"Rex, when are we gonna—?"
"We're going to get out of here soon, Kix! All right? You can quit asking!"
"But I haven't…"
Sighing heavily, Rex looped an arm around Kix's shoulders and drove him forward. In a softer tone, he said, "Don't worry. We'll get out of here soon. As for you…" He flicked his eyes onto Jesse. "Potential ARC trooper, how are you holding up?"
"Who says I even wanna be an ARC trooper?"
Rex shot him a look.
"Fine. Okay, okay." Jesse sucked in a breath. "Yeah, it would be nice. But I already told you that I'm f—"
The earth trembled violently without warning, knocking the three clones to the ground.
"Rex…?"
"It's fine, Kix!" He called over the rumble. "It's just an aftershock."
"I'm guessing those are bad?" Jesse asked from his place on Rex's left and Rex found himself cursing the sheltered naivety of their homeworld.
"Not as bad as the original quake, but… yeah. They're no picnic. Just hang tight. It'll be over soo—"
A large clump of dirt broke against Rex's head, startling him into silence.
They needed shelter.
They needed Commander Tano.
They needed to get out.
A sharp creak sounded above their heads. Hooking Kix's helmet on the belt beside his own, Rex wasted no time in hauling his brothers to their feet. His own hands clenched tightly in theirs, he began to run.
No questions were asked, thankfully. Not even Kix opened his mouth during their sprint away from the crumbing building overhead.
A few short seconds after they cleared that section of the prison-like tunnel, the southern half of the fallen building sunk further down into the earthy gap, effectively destroying half of the tunnel.
"Rex…?" Kix's voice was slurring more than before, but the captain forced himself not to panic. If the concussion was a severe one, Kix would've been out cold by now.
"Just keep running!" He ordered as the twisted wreckage continued to sink down on top of them.
It was all going to come down, he just knew it.
They needed shelter. They needed—
There!
A single glance above revealed a hole in the building where an umpteenth story room once sat.
This had better work…
Because it was their only chance.
Pulling his brothers to a sudden stop earned a hiss from Kix and a strangled gasp from Jesse.
"Rex, what the—?"
"Get down!" Rex called as he drew his brothers close and forced them down into a fetal position.
The sound of his pounding heart almost drowned out the crunch of metal against metal as the building collapsed on top of them.
Almost.
Then, just as suddenly as it began, the noise stopped, leaving a deathly silence in its wake.
For a long moment, nobody moved. Rex himself didn't even breathe.
Were they alive?
Did we make it?
"Of course we… made it…" Jesse's voice seemed dimmer now, strained.
Opening his eyes, Rex saw that the room had fallen perfectly over them—effectively trapping the troopers in a eight-by-ten foot grave.
No one spoke for a few moments, each trying to catch their breath and clear their throats of dust and debris.
"Everyone still alive?" Rex asked, cringing at his own voice as it echoed off the crumpled metal walls.
"How're we gonna… get outta here… now…?"
There's Kix.
"Jesse?"
Nothing.
Rex's heart skipped a beat and he shifted until he was kneeling in front of the trooper, who was still curled in a tight ball. "Jesse!"
Nothing but heavy gasps.
"Come on, soldier, don't die on me now!"
The shove came off harder than Rex had intended, but he achieved the desired effect nonetheless.
A low moan escaped Jesse's lips as he rolled onto his side. "Kn-Knock it o-off, will ya?"
Kix made his way around to Jesse's other side, going through the motions of a medic, but Rex doubted he was truly comprehending anything.
"What hurts?" Rex asked. "And no lies this time."
"I… w-wasn't lying last t-time," Jesse protested, clutching tightly at his midsection. "It just d-didn't hurt as b-badly then."
Carefully, Rex unwrapped Jesse's arms and unclipped the armor plate protecting his stomach. One touch soaked his hand in sticky blood. Another stained his once dirty white armor.
"Kriff, Jesse! How long has that been there?"
The shrapnel protruding from Jesse's side was sharp enough to slice through Rex's thick gloves.
His stomach churned and he swallowed hard.
"Dunno," came Jesse's breathless reply. "But it'll be fine…"
"Like the vaping Corellian Hells it will!" Turning to Kix, he seized up the medic. It was obvious the trooper was in no shape mentally to take on such a precarious project.
But what other choice do we have?
"Kix, we need to stop the bleeding." Right? Stars! Why didn't he ever take the initiative to learn more about the medical field before throwing himself into battle after battle?
I'm their captain, for Stars Sakes! I should know how to take care of my men.
"Kix!" He snapped when the medic made no reply.
Kix simply blinked at him. "Oh… Well, isn't it… slowing 'lready?"
"We don't take the shrapnel out, right?"
A long, drawn out beat. Then: "…No…"
"Right. Okay…" Rex was mostly talking to himself now as Kix was no help and Jesse had started fading in and out of consciousness. "Okay. Okay, what about infection?"
"You pull it out," Kix slurred, slumping against the nearby wall, "and he'll bleed t'death…"
Right. "All right. I won't take it out."
But oh, leaving it jammed in there felt so wrong.
"So what? We just do nothing?"
But Kix was already pawing through his medpak. With an unsteady hand, he passed Rex a can of bacta spray.
"Put that on th'wound," he instructed, then handed over a bacta patch. "And this…"
"Kix," Rex replied as he lightly sprayed the wound, "we don't need the patch because the shrapnel's still in there."
"Oh… Is it though?"
"Yes. It is. Now, here." He shoved both back into Kix's limp hands. "What next?"
Silence.
"We wait?"
Wait… Rex didn't particularly like that option.
But there truly wasn't anything else he could do. Unless…
"Kix, do you have a pain killer, or even something to numb the wound?"
A belated nod, then Kix handed over the syringe.
"Sorry, this is gonna pinch," Rex warned, earning a scoff from Jesse.
"Seriously? My side is doing a little more than just pinching right now. I think I can handle—ouch!"
"Told you. Better?"
Jesse nodded, relief washing over his face as the pain reliever worked its magic.
"Now…" Jesse gasped for another breath. "Now what?"
"We wait," Rex said with a glance at Kix, who appeared to be dozing. "Hey! Kix, hey, you need to stay awake, all right?"
"Huh…?" A blink. "Oh… right. Sure…"
Leaning against the wall alongside Kix, Rex kept an eye on Jesse's wound, watching the thin trail of blood ooze down his blacks.
As long as it stays like that, we're fine. We'll be fine.
And so they waited.
Until a sudden series of particularly ragged coughs wracked Jesse's frame. Rex was on his knees beside him in an instant.
"Jesse, you've got to calm down! You're going to make it worse!"
"S-Sorry!" Jesse bit out between coughs.
But it was too late, Rex realized as he examined the wound again, which was now gushing blood.
The damage had been done.
Kriff! Kriff! Kriff!
"Kix!" He cried, pressing his hands against the wound in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding while at the same time trying not to shove the offending piece of metal further into Jesse's body. "Kix! What now?"
The reply was slow in coming, but Rex had expected that—he just didn't have the patience for it.
"Come on! Kix, I need help now!"
Fumbling through his medpak again, Kix drew out a medical needle and thread.
Rex paled.
"Pull it out…" Kix instructed, eyes half-lidded now. "Then… this." He offered the tools out to Rex.
"But you just said we have to keep it inside him!"
"That was when… he wasn't losing as much… blood. Now… this."
With a gulp and a nod, Rex took the needle into his shaking hand and began threading it. This took several tries as his fingers trembled too violently to slide the string through the minuscule hole.
When he finally got it through, salty beads of sweat were rolling off his forehead and into his eyes.
Rex swiped a bloody hand across his head, not bothering to even wonder what sort of terror he must look like. The rest of the blood he wiped off on his legs in order to make his fingers less slippery for the task ahead.
He could not fail the task ahead.
Pull it out… Pull it…
Rex's hands hovered mere inches above the shrapnel, yet he couldn't bring himself to touch it, much less pull it out of Jesse's body.
He didn't want to hear the cries of pain or see the way his brother's face would twist in agony.
But he didn't want his brother to die, either.
"On the count of three, all right?"
Jesse responded with a wince. "Just do it. I don't want a countdown."
Rex nodded before forcing his fingers around the shrapnel.
Do it. Do it!
Just do—
Hot sweat pooled atop his face. "I… I-I can't do this. I can't—"
Before he could back away, Jesse's hands had curled around his collar and were jerking him down until Rex could feel his brother's short breaths pulsing against his forehead. "D-Do it! I will not die alone i-in a sinkhole b-because you're queasy!"
"I'm not queasy!" Rex snapped, pulling away sharply, his eyes blazing with intensity. "And you are not going to die alone, vod."
Jesse's smirk was a weak one. "N-Not if you h-have anything to s-say about it, right?"
The trick was a clever one, but Rex couldn't bring himself to smile. "Yeah." Sucking in a breath, he firmly replaced his hands. "All right. Ready?"
"No. B-But go ahead—Gah!"
Rex winced at the sickening sound of his brother's agony, but he didn't stop easing the piece out of Jesse's side.
Just a little further. Just a little…
In the end, the shard wasn't very large, but its absence broke the final dam, allowing for a rush of blood to stream out of his brother.
Rex snatched up the needle, knowing he had to act fast.
"Kix, I can't see anything!" He called, his voice betraying the fear he'd hoped to keep hidden. "There's too much blood! There's… so much…"
He was taken back to another costly battle, one he'd wished to forget. Yet, there it was, plaguing his mind at the most inopportune moment.
Memories of Ahsoka bleeding out haunted his vision and he tried to focus back on Jesse. In the memory, Kix had been there to stitch his commander back up.
Here, there was only Rex.
Just a trembling, untrained, unfit Rex.
Blinking hard, he tried again, but there was so much blood. Pools and pools of it drowning Jesse's gaping wound.
A soft stretch of fabric was suddenly thrust into his hands and he turned to see Kix's entire right arm bare of any armor and clothing.
"Hurry…" He pressed lazily.
"Right."
Wasting no more time on his own fears, Rex moped up the blood with Kix's sleeve, then set to work stitching Jesse's wound.
If he failed, he would kill Jesse.
And he could not kill Jesse.
Come on, you can do this, he thought in what sounded strangely like Cody's voice. You can do this.
Hours seemed to crawl by, but Rex finally got the knot tied at the end of the gash, which flashed angry and red back up at Rex.
"Jesse?" Rex croaked, his throat hoarse from being so tightly constricted during the entire procedure. "Jesse, are you—?"
Though Jesse's eyes remained closed, his whispered tones floated past Rex's ears like blessed little bells.
"'M fine… Thanks, vod…"
Heaving a sigh of relief, Rex slumped back against the wall, overcome by the sudden weight of fatigue. His eyes fluttered.
Oh, wouldn't it be so lovely just to fall asleep?
You deserve it, a tiny voice whispered in the back of his mind.
But no. No.
He had to… had to…
"Kix," he whispered, nudging his brother. "You've got to stay awake, all right?"
"… Why…?"
"The concussion. The concussion…"
"… Oh…"
Knowing the young medic wouldn't be able to keep himself conscious on his own, Rex resorted to nudging him every minute or so.
"Just a little longer, okay?"
"'Kay…"
"Just a little longer… Commander Tano…" Rex could feel himself slipping in the blessed darkness.
No. No!
"Commander…?" Kix slurred, his voice so soft, Rex could barely hear it.
"Yeah. She's coming for us." Then, Rex slid his hand into Kix's before groping for Jesse's. Squeezing tight, he attempted to center himself, to rid himself of the feeling of floating. "She's coming for us… Just hang on. Hang… on…"
Then, the darkness swallowed him.
Rex swore he'd only blinked out for a minute, but when someone started shaking his arm, he knew in an instant he'd failed.
Kix!
"Kix…" He coughed. "You have t'stay awake. Stay… awake…" His eyes were too heavy and someone was calling his name.
"Rex… Rex!"
"Kix… come on…"
Come on…
Please, stay awake…
"Rex! Vod'ika, it's all right." Cody? "Kix is going to be okay."
Blinking back into the world of the living, Rex focused as best he could on the commander hovering in his face.
"Cody?"
His brother's smile was laced with concern. "It's okay, Rex, you did good."
"Jesse?"
Cody nodded, then offered Rex a hand.
"He'll be fine once Commander Tano gets him to the medbay and they get the infection down."
"Infection?"
Cody pulled his lips into a tight grin. "Don't worry about it, Rex. No doubt you've already done more than your fair share of that today."
Rex felt his body being pulled upright. It was only after he latched a hand onto Cody's shoulder that he remembered the blood.
The blood he was now smearing all over his brother's armor.
But when he jerked back, Cody only tugged him closer.
"It's all right, Rex. It's all right. Just calm down, okay? You did good."
"Yeah…?"
Cody beamed at him. "Yeah."
And Rex smiled.
"Now," Cody went on, slinging an arm around Rex's shoulders, "let's get you out of here. You look like he—"
"Okay, okay. I know I'm a mess. There's no need to remind me."
Cody just laughed. "Come on, vod'ika. I don't know about you, but I'm just about done with this planet. Besides, I don't think Fives will shut up until he sees that you're all right with his own eyes."
Rex rolled his. "One thing, though."
"Yeah?"
"Remind me never to go into the medical field."
Cody laughed. "You got it, Rex. You got it."