Chapter Eighty-Two: The Workshop

I took a long, shaky drink when I finished my story, my hand trembling visibly. Rex saw it, but was silent. He was thinking, his eyes on me, but distant at the same time. He stared at me for a long moment longer, my fingers digging at the sides of my glass.

Finally, the captain's golden gaze refocused on me and he shrugged. "Wer'cuy," he said with a shake of his head.

"I can't forget it, Rex. Any of it. The warden. The things he did." I looked away, tears brimming in my eyes. Damned alcohol. "The things I did," I added in a sad whisper before looking back at the soldier, speaking louder now. "Any of it."

His gaze softened, his skin wrinkling as he grinned, the lines made darker by the stubble of hair appearing on his jaw. "I'm not asking you to," Rex assured me gently. "I'm asking you not to think I'd be angry knowing those things." He stepped closer, his hand brushing my cheek softly. "You didn't deserve any of this, Kida. None of what happened to you or your friends was your fault." He brushed the tear from below my eye before leaning back and taking a drink. He shrugged at me with a small smirk. "Arguss got what he deserved. I knew what I was doing when I left him to your mercy."

My brow lifted. I'd known Rex had a darker side, but I hadn't realized he would be so accepting of the things I'd done. Accepting of the fact that my past had caused a darkness in me so deep, that when I fell in, it was hard to get out.

"I'm sorry I called you 'people.' " I sighed slowly. "It was wrong of me to group you into the other people in my life."

Rex nodded with a gentle smile. "And I'm sorry if I overshared with my brothers. I need to talk to someone though. I know you must talk to someone."

I thought for a moment about how I internalized basically everything. But then I also thought about my growing friendship with Padme. Ahsoka even seemed to have more knowledge than she let on. Even Fives was like a brother to me. Maybe I wouldn't talk about my relationship with his captain with him….but maybe Rex should.

"You're right. You should have an outlet. But could you keep our problems between you and maybe….one? Two, maybe?"

Rex smirked at me but nodded. "I suppose it's already a risk that the boys know about us."

"How many of them do?" I asked, brow raised.

"These guys are loyal, but I'm sure others suspect. They're not idiots, Kida." The captain seemed almost defensive. He didn't answer my question, but I let it go.

I chuckled now. "I never said they were. But thank you."

"Fives and Jesse?" he asked, leaning forward on the side of the desk, glass balanced between his fingertips.

"You don't need my permission on who you choose. But if I had to choose out of your men who to entrust my feelings to, I'd probably go with them. Fives already knows way too much about us both and Jesse is pretty level-headed and a loyal friend. He's good with people so he actually gives great advice."

Rex actually laughed, throwing his head back. I raised my brows, giving a fake pout in confusion. "I wasn't expecting a full evaluation, though I appreciate that you agree they're a good pick." He sighed, sobering slightly. "They're all my brothers. But some of us….some of us have seen a lot together."

I reached out, my fingers lacing with his. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Me too."

"I'll do better to get a handle on my emotions. And my abilities," I breathed slowly, dreading the constant battle ahead of me. Shoving my darkness back into its cage was never easy.

Rex's fingers squeezed mine. "Now that I understand better, I can help you. In any way I can." His lips pressed against the back of my hand.

I leaned forward, running my free hand over the soft buzzed hair on the side of his head. His energy was calmer now, our anger ebbing away. "We would probably avoid a lot of conflict if I learned how to communicate better," I observed blunty, staring down at my glass. It was empty. Again. I lurched up from where we leaned on the desk, earning a raised brow from Rex, refilling my glass again. I made a mental note to get more next time I was near Mandalorian traders; the decanter was looking frighteningly low.

The captain was silent for a second before bursting out laughing. I jumped a little at the outburst, some rum sloshing onto my wrist. I sucked it off while giving him a confused look. "You act like you were the only one who wasn't taught to communicate emotions while growing up," he chuckled in explanation.

It dawned on me that he was a clone, and I was a streetrat turned slave. "I suppose the Kaminoans didn't include emotional and relationship health in their training, huh?" I dared to joke on the dark topic. The clones had a deep respect for their creators, and saw Kamino as their home.

But it didn't change the confusion all clones felt about their creation and existence. Or the horrible things they knew would happen to brothers who didn't….make the cut.

To my relief, Rex laughed, his throat bobbing beneath his tan skin. I relaxed a bit, walking back to him to place my hand on his cheek. The captain immediately leaned into my touch, my heart aching at his upbringing.

It occurred to me that mine wasn't much different. So why did this come so naturally? It didn't feel like what I'd learned from watching pleasure slaves. It felt…genuine. Loving.

"Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum," I whispered before leaning in and kissing him. His hand immediately came up to grab the nape of my neck, tilting my head to deepen the kiss. He pulled away, having put down his glass to place his other hand on my cheek.

"I love you too," he said back, his voice gruff with alcohol and maybe a bit of something else. He dragged me closer, kissing me long and hard.

Finally, I fisted my free hand in his leather jacket, shoving him backwards to suck in a deep breath. "Shab, you're gonna suffocate me," I gasped, letting out a breathy laugh.

His thumb brushed against my cheek gently as he chuckled lowly, the sound reverberating in his chest. He was soft now, pulling me closer to press his lips between my brows, just above the bridge of my nose. I closed my eyes as I caught my breath, enjoying the feeling of his lips against my skin.

"Our relationship is weird," I commented, earning another laugh from Rex.

He pulled away again, looking me in the eye with a twinkle in his gaze. "You're not wrong. But that doesn't change how I feel about you. It never will."

I glanced down, seeing his glass empty. With a frown, I switched his for mine, taking his back to refill it. Rex stared at the now full glass in his hand.

"We should probably get back to the party. They're probably worried, considering the manner we left the club floor."

I let out a chuckle, leaning against the counter and taking a sip from the glass. "Let them worry. We can afford another drink or two."

"You've had a few already," he observed with a raised brow. It wasn't judging. If anything, it was amused.

"So have you."

"Fair enough." Rex took a long gulp of his spiced rum. I grinned over my glass before walking over to the glass wall behind my desk, my hand touching the panel on the side lightly. The glass faded and changed color slightly, allowing us to see through it onto the club floor below. "Can they see us?" he asked, having turned on the desk to look.

"No. One-way glass."

"Very nice."

I pointed to our friends below, being entertained by my workers. Vamira was all over Tup again, but I was glad for it. He was still bent out of shape about Umbara and Dogma. They were batchmates, after all. I was happy he had someone to lean on outside of the military.

"See?" I smiled, looking down over my rather crowded establishment. "They're doing just fine." They all looked handsomely drunk and were puffing happily on hookahs.

Rex didn't respond, making me turn to find the desk empty. I spied him along the edge of my office, peering into my workshop. My brow lifted, but I said nothing as he leaned into the doorway. The captain looked back mutely to meet my gaze, and when I said nothing, he dared to turn on the light. He wandered in and I let him go, sipping happily at my rum while looking over my business.

An alarm sounded, followed by a startled yell. I cursed, putting my glass on the desk before rushing into the workshop. "Apex, stand down," I yelled, placing myself between the fallen Rex and the defense turret that had lowered from the ceiling. "Alpha Code burcyan." The alarm stopped immediately before the turret beeped and receded back into the ceiling. As the hatch hissed closed behind it, I turned to help Rex to his feet.

"What the hell was that?" he asked, his eyes still a bit wide.

"My apologies, Captain," Apex's voice sounded through my apartment's systems. "But you had not been authorized access to this room."

I gaped, Rex giving me a teasing dirty look. "I had no idea," I defended honestly. Rex didn't seem to believe me, but I didn't really care that much. No harm, no foul.

"What is all this?" he asked, finally looking around the room. It was filled with machinery, a door in the back leading out towards my private hangar in the back. It was only big enough for one ship at a time, but it was nice that I had a place I could work on it that wasn't my storage hangar.

I glanced at him. "Oh, come on. With Skywalker as your general, I highly doubt you haven't seen a mechanic's workshop before." I shrugged, looking around at the scattered plans and bits of half-finished upgrades. "More of a tinker shop at the moment." I allowed, "I haven't been around a lot."

Rex chuckled in his throat, but continued looking unabashedly. "And what is this?" he asked, pulling up a data-pad with a small, hand-drawn sketch of an armor design. The beskar was painted with 501st blue and sith red, but it was only a hasty drawing. "And a helmet!" Rex exclaimed. "You have a helmet?"

"No," I grunted. "I used the beskar my father left me for my helmet already." Rex raised his brow. "My lightsaber," I offered as an explanation. He nodded, understanding.

"So… why the helmet design?"

I shrugged again. "Maybe one day I'll come across some beskar."

"You can smith beskar?"

"Hell no," I chuckled, "But I have certain connections."

"Well, then I'll keep my eye out for some spare beskar."

"No stealing from a Mandalorian, or someone who came across it honorably," I added in quickly, earning a laugh from the captain.

"You sound like Jango Fett," Rex smiled, meaning it as a compliment. Still, for some reason, I frowned and looked away. "There was a time you would've been flattered by that….what changed?"

I looked up at the soldier, taking in the warm, curious honey eyes and strong hand that swirled his glass near his lips. "I know. And I still am. But Jango made some decisions that have made me….not want to follow his path anymore."

Rex paused in thought. "Like you don't want to be a bounty hunter anymore?"

"Please," I let out a loud laugh, gesturing to the room. "Bounty hunting is all I know now. I'm not stopping that. But I am following his path by being involved in the war….and letting my emotions drive me to dark places."

"If you're concerned that being in this war will get you hurt….then you don't have to fight in it. I don't want you to get hurt either." Rex's hand brushed my cheek gently as he smirked. "But I'll keep you safe if you stick near me."

I pushed his hand away playfully. "As if. You need me out there to keep your shebs alive." After we both laughed, I spoke softer again. "I just don't want to lose myself the way he did."

Rex's hand returned to my face, this time to pull me into his chest. He was careful not to spill either of our glasses, giving me a strong hug. I buried my face into the leather jacket, smelling him beneath it. He had showered at the barracks, so he smelled like the garbage soap they used, rather than the ones I'd left for him here. I crinkled my nose, but his musk was still comforting.

"You won't," Rex promised, "I'll kick your shebs if you do."

I smiled into his chest, my words muffled when I replied, "You'd try." His laughter rumbled deep in his chest, vibrating against my forehead. I closed my eyes in bliss at the sound.

After a moment of embracing each other, our emotions finally settling to ones of love and peace, Rex pulled away with a kiss to my hairline. "So can I keep snooping through your stuff?" His tone was innocent and child-like, making me laugh.

Before I could respond, Apex's voice blared through the speaker with an alert alarm. "Miss, I hate to interrupt, but Merl must speak with you."

I rolled my eyes at Rex, making him laugh before I responded to the AI. "I'm sure he can handle whatever is happening."

"It's urgent, Miss," Apex persisted, making my brow arch. He didn't wait for me to respond, Merl's voice coming through. I could hear the sounds of the club in the background.

"Kida you better get your ass down here," the barkeep said gruffly into the comm.

"I beg your-" I started, but my friend cut me off again.

"Weapons in the club," he said shortly, my back immediately going rigid. "Clones."

That caught me off guard, Rex and I sharing a perplexed look before hurrying from the workshop. Our glasses were left forgotten on my desk as I plowed out the front door to my office, descending the curling metal stairs that brought me down to the club floor. Rex was right on my heels, the commotion at the door hard to miss.

I immediately put on my bounty hunter scowl, the onlookers moving out of my way when they saw me approaching. Most of them were regulars and knew how firm my security and I could be. When we got closer, I saw my security officers trying to face off with a group of clones, whose blasters were raised.

"Stand down!" the lead clone yelled, pointing his blaster at my security team. I recognized his red armor, my scowl deepening.

"Enough!" I screamed, motioning for Merl to cut the music. He did immediately, the club falling silent in shock. "Commander Fox," I said, loud enough for the room to hear. "Guests are not allowed weapons in my establishment."

Fox's visor looked me dead-on. "Good thing we aren't guests. We're messengers."

"Still guests, just uninvited ones," I growled back, crossing my arms. Rex stepped up beside me, giving me a worried glance.

"What is your message, Commander?" he asked.

Foxx seemed startled for a moment. "This is no-" he stopped, seeming to recognize his brother. "Rex. I didn't recognize you." His tone was a bit mocking as he looked Rex up and down before giving me another glare. He clearly didn't approve of his brothers having any fun.

"Well?" I spit, my patience unworldly low with Commander Fox. "Lower your weapons and deliver your message, then."

I could feel Fox's dark expression beneath his helmet, but he stepped sideways to let another clone come forward. Unlike the others in the Coruscant Guard, his armor was painted in a deep yellow color. My mind cycled through the battalions that were planetside. Kenobi was on Coruscant, and despite the fact that didn't always mean the battalion was too, I remembered the boys mentioning Commander Cody.

I frowned at him, feeling his distress through the Force. "You're from the 212th," I spoke aloud, arms still crossed.

The clone seemed surprised, taking off his helmet and tucking it under his arm. "Yes. Commander Cody sent me."

Without his bucket on, I was practically punched with his fear. His sorrow. "What happened?" I asked suddenly, earning a worried look from Rex.

"It's the General," the soldier breathed slowly. "He's been killed."

MANDO'A

Wer'cuy- forget it/it doesn't matter

Burcyan- friendship/comradeship/close bond

Shebs- ass

Shab- fuck

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I'm sorry I suck. It's been a really wild last few months and it has made writing next to impossible. I'm sorry this is a small chapter, but I'm hopefully gonna be motivated to write more? Hopefully?

But I hope I didn't kinda mess this sideways because I wrote it over many many different attempts and it feels maybe choppy and too quick? I also didn't know what to name it? Oh well. Enjoy and we shall move on because ya boi is done with it haha. Hope you liked the little tease of a potential new armor redesign!

Till next time (which hopefully is sooner than a few months this time),

-Ryder