Death's Choice
By Ammie Hawk
Disclaimer: Nope.
AN: So, normally I don't address things like this anymore, but I would like to point out something: Harry's memories and magic will come back, in time. I have plans for this very thing, but at the moment other stipulations have to be met before this comes to pass. So please, if this bothers you, there is the door, otherwise, I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 2: Gamma Squad
Kix woke up at morning bell, like normal. He was tired from the late night, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. And if nothing else, he could snag something from the med bay when he went to check on Rex and Harry.
As he made to get out of his pod, he noticed the downward progress had come to a standstill. He glanced over the edge of his bunk and saw Hawk standing on the floor, his face tilted up to look at Jesse, who had come to a stop between the lowest two pods, causing him and Waxer to be stuck.
"Hey," Waxer's foot tapped impatiently on the rung above the other's fingers. "Move it or lose it, Jesse. Some of us want to get down sometime before second-meal."
"Right," he shook his head and slid the rest of the way to the floor.
A moment later, they were on the ground and heading to their lockers to prepare for the day. As they changed out of their sleepwear, Jesse seemed to finally be able to put voice to his errant thoughts.
"Does anyone know where Rex is?" he asked, his voice low to avoid eavesdroppers. "I mean, he didn't get dismissed with us for sleep, and he's not here now. You," his voice went even quieter, "you don't think something happened to him, do you?"
Right, Kix could've kicked himself. Of course his brothers and squad-mates would think that. It was unfortunately, a common occurrence for one of their own to just disappear and never be seen again. Well, Kote had tasked him with telling his squad, and well this was a perfect opening.
"Rex is fine," he hissed quietly, drawing the others' attention to himself. "He'll be in medical for the rest of the day, but he's fine."
"Why is he in medical?" Waxer scowled. "Did that trainer hurt him last night? If they did, I'm gonna…"
"Enough, Waxer," the medic held up his hand and leaned in, causing the other three to as well. "Look, what I'm about to tell you doesn't leave our squad, got it?"
He waited for them to agree before continuing.
"I gave Rex medical leave for the day," he began.
"But he's okay, right?" Jesse cut in nervously.
"He's fine," Kix sighed heavily. "Minor exhaustion and fatigue at most. The trainer had him running drills last night. But that's not why I gave him leave, he could've handled that, he always does. I gave it to him because after he came back here last night he found a kid in his pod."
"A kid?" Hawk said in his quiet way. "One of the cadets?"
"No, he's not a clone," the medic shook his head. "We don't know where he came from or how he got here, but we decided we need to take care of him."
"Makes sense," Waxer agreed. "So what'd ya want us to do?"
"Rex and Kote will be taking the brunt of the responsibility."
"Wait," Jesse pouted slightly, though don't tell him that, "now Kote's involved? I thought this was just between us. A Gamma Squad thing."
"Of course Kote's involved," Waxer rolled his eyes. "Rex found the kid. If Rex has a problem, he goes to Kote. Where have you been for, I don't know, our entire lives?"
The others couldn't help but concede the point. Kote had always had a soft spot for their squad-mate, ever since he first showed up with those abnormal blond locks. Because of that, Rex would confide in the CC more than any other clone in Tipoca City.
"Anyway," Kix brought them back to the matter at hand, "those two decided they would be in charge of this, well Kote did anyway, but what they need from us are distractions and covering for them."
"We can do that," Hawk nodded, speaking for the others as well. "But we should go or we'll be late for first-meal."
"So," Waxer said as they started off toward the mess hall, "what can you tell us about this kid anyway?"
888888
Harry woke up, sans headache, feeling well rested but rather restless. He wanted, no needed, to get up and do something. He didn't know how long he'd been sleeping but his body was telling him he'd been inactive for long enough.
He remembered waking up several times prior to this point, but every time a warm, comfortable presence enveloped him and he was pulled back to sleep. He hadn't exactly dreamt while he slept, but he did remember seeing faces: a pretty woman with red hair and bright green eyes; a man with flyaway black hair and glasses; a different man with shoulder length dark hair and haunted grey eyes. But the love he felt pouring off each and every one of them was staggering.
As nice as that had been, it didn't do to dwell on dreams or some such nonsense, so it was time to get up. Automatically, his hand reached out and he began groping around for his glasses. His hand bumped into something solid, possibly a nightstand, but he didn't let it stop his quest.
"Hey, careful," a vaguely familiar voice said from behind him, as a large hand closed over his own. "What are you looking for?
"Gwasses," he muttered, sitting up and rubbing his eyes with his free fist.
"You don't need those anymore," a second person chuckled. "I fixed that last night. Now, think you're up for a few questions?"
"Uh huh," he nodded.
Green eyes blinked slowly open and the room came into focus. He was in the same white room with the machines he'd been in the night before. He turned slowly toward the direction the voices originated and saw the blond who said he'd stay with him sitting on the edge of the cot while one of the brunets stood next to him.
"Alright," the brunet smiled kindly. "First things first, how does your head feel?"
"Okay," he answered quietly.
"No pain?"
His brow drew together in a frown as he thought about the question, "No."
"That's good," the medic nodded. "Now do you know where we are?"
"Hospital?" he answered after a moment's pause.
The two men shared a look but decided to press on.
"Okay. Do you know what city you're in?"
He shook his head.
"That's okay. Do you remember who we are?" he motioned between himself and the blond.
"Kix and Rex."
"That's right," Kix was practically beaming.
The questions continued for several minutes, some Harry was able to answer, others he couldn't. But that didn't seem to bother the medic too much. When he finally seemed satisfied, he took a few steps away from the cot and lifted a tray from one of the clearer surfaces.
"Okay, so that's all for now," he turned back with a smile. "I brought you two second-meal. After you are done, I'm confining you both here until after late-meal. Kote will come by to pick up Harry at that point, and Rex, you'll return to Gamma Squad."
"Kote?" Rex frowned as he took the tray. "He can stay with us at Gamma Squad tonight."
"Actually," the brunet shook his head, trying hard not to smile, "Kote sent me a message. After our late night, and you being out of commission for the day there is a high probability of our being inspected tomorrow."
"Damn it!" the blond swore quietly. "Why does Kote always have to be right?"
"I think the better question is why does he always have to be in the know?" the medic snorted. "Anyway, if you two are feeling up for it, you have some visitors."
"Of course," Rex groaned, setting the tray on the cot so both he and Harry could eat. "Fine, let them in."
Kix nodded before moving to the door as Rex picked up the forks and handed one to Harry. Green eyes swept over the fare warily, it did not look appetizing at all. But he knew he needed to eat and Rex was eating it just fine and he really didn't want to be ungrateful. He had just taken a bite, almost immediately spitting it out due to the texture and weird flavor or lack thereof, but managed not to, when the door opened.
The three men that walked in were almost identical to the others he'd already met. What was up with that? Were they all related somehow? Though given enough time he would be able to tell them apart, just like Fred and George. Not that he knew where that thought came from or who Fred and George were exactly. As he tried to figure that out, the pain in his head returned with a vengeance. A soft whimper escaped him and he reached up to rub his head to try and relieve the pressure.
"Harry?" concern laced Kix's voice as he hurried back over.
"I—I okay," he took a few shuddering breaths as the pain began to recede.
Without a word, Rex lifted him onto his lap and began rubbing his hand gently over his head. The rest of the pain left and he leaned back into the blond's chest. The other four barely contained their amusement as they watched the pair, though a quickly muffled snort did manage to slip out of one of them.
"Are you sure you're okay, Harry?" the medic's face twitched as he tried to get back to the matter at hand.
"Uh huh," he nodded, and it was true.
"Okay," Kix took a deep breath. "Now, I want you to eat too. You need to keep up your strength."
"Here," Rex lifted the fork in his hand, loaded with a bite of food, to Harry's mouth. With a slight pout he opened his mouth and accepted the gross food.
"Aww, he's so cute!" one of the newcomers cooed, causing the green eyes to narrow on him in a fierce glare. "Okay, not cute."
"Harry," the blond sighed as he continued to feed him, "let me introduce you to the rest of Gamma Squad. This is Jesse, Waxer, and Hawk. Guys, this is Harry."
"Damn, Rex," Jesse grinned at him, "you are giving off some serious dad vibes here. I don't think even Prime gives off this many."
"I am not," Rex rolled his eyes in annoyance. "He needs taken care of. I'm helping take care of him, that's all."
Ri-i-i-ght," Waxer scoffed before leaning down so he was on eye level with the kid. "What do you think, kid, is Rex gonna be your dad?"
The withering look that crossed the youngling's face could've stripped paint off a starship. Waxer took a hasty step back and straightened. Without lowering his glare, Harry leaned back further into the blond's chest.
"We need to go," Hawk finally spoke up. "We have training and you should get some rest. See you tonight, Rex."
The blond nodded as Hawk turned to leave. Kix and Jesse moved to follow, each linking an arm around one of Waxer's and dragging him along with them. When the door finally closed behind them, Rex slumped in on himself a bit.
"You okay?" concerned green eyes rose to meet brown.
"I'm okay," the blond sighed. "I really love my brothers, but sometimes some of them can be a bit much."
"Dey alwight," Harry shrugged. "Excep' Waxer."
"And what's wrong with Waxer?" a brow rose curiously.
"He tweat me wike a kid," he said solemnly. "I not a kid. I don' wike it. In fact, I hate it. If he continues, I might bwow him up."
"I'll talk to him," Rex knew well how much it bothered Boba and the cadets to be treated like the children they physically were, but that seemed a bit extreme. "But let's refrain from using explosives, okay?"
"Expwosives?" a frown creased the boy's brow. Oh no, wike a bawoon," he puffed his cheeks out to demonstrate. "He fwoat away. Bye bye."
"And how exactly would you pull that off?" the blond did his best not to laugh at the mental image.
"Magic," Harry replied innocently.
"Of course," oh to be young and innocent again, and not jaded by the harsh reality of the galaxy. "Anyway, we should probably finish eating before Kix has our hides."
"But it gwoss," he picked up his fork and glared at the bite on it.
"It's not bad," Rex countered. "Besides, it's all we have."
"Fine," he huffed and popped the food into his mouth with a pout.
"Okay then," the blond reached down and ruffled the already unruly black hair on the boy's head. "How about this? After we finish eating, how about I see if I can't scrounge up one of Kix's holopads, and we can find something to do for the rest of the day."
Ammie: I know I haven't put the end notes in this fic as of yet, but here we go. I really do hope everyone is enjoying my venture into the unknown, as I am currently drowning (and enjoying every minute of it) in this particular fandom. Anyway, please let me know what you think.