Death's Choice

By Ammie Hawk

Disclaimer: Still not mine…

AN: This chapter was rather difficult for me to write, and I'm not entirely satisfied with it, but I felt it was necessary in the grand scheme of things. So, there ya go.

English (because I have a head cannon that galactic basic isn't exactly the same as languages used on Earth, and since it's my fic, that's the way it is.)

Chapter 4: Setting the Pace

Harry woke the following morning to Kote shaking him awake. He had slept well, for the most part, like he had the previous night with Rex. The faces he'd seen in his sleep were different though. There had been a redhead with a long nose and lots of freckles, along with several others with the same vibrant red hair, and he speculated, though he wasn't entirely sure why, that they were related. There was also a bushy haired brunette and a blonde with wide grey eyes. He couldn't place names with any of them, but he knew they had been important to him, and he to them.

But it was time to get up apparently, and he didn't want to dwell on it too much. He really didn't want the headache, thank you very much. He sat up with a yawn and raised a hand to rub at his eyes.

"Come on, sleepy head," Kote chuckled, reaching out and pulling him to his chest. "We have to hurry if we don't want to be late for first-meal and draw attention."

"Okay," he burrowed into the man's shoulder, trying to get comfortable as he descended the ladder. "Wiwl we see Rex?"

"We might," Kote replied noncommittally, as his feet hit the floor. "But remember, we have to keep you hidden."

"How we gonna do dat?" incredulous green eyes rose to meet brown. "I not 'xactwly 'visibwe."

"No, you're not," he agreed. "But you are small. And if you stay close to us," he motioned with his free hand to the other four members of his squad, who had fallen into step around them, "we should manage just fine."

"If you say so," the boy still looked dubious about the whole thing.

Despite his misgivings, they managed to make it to the mess and get their food without drawing undue attention. The squad found a table in the far corner and Kote placed Harry on the bench between himself and the wall. They had just started eating, the same thing as every male he'd had so far, much to Harry's chagrin, when they were joined by Rex and Kix. As soon as the blond was settled on Kote's other side, the boy scrambled over the brunet and plopped himself on his lap.

"Hello," Rex frowned slightly at the top of the boy's head.

"Hi," Harry chirped in reply, as he settled more comfortably on his lap.

"Wait," Wolffe scowled at the pair, "I thought he was Kote's? I mean, he did threaten me last night over him."

"He didn't threaten you," Ponds countered. "He called you out on your shit, there's a difference."

"How are you feeling, Harry?" Kix interjected before things could devolve further.

"I fine," he replied. "I not hungwy, but I fine."

"Eat," Kote commanded quietly. "We don't have much time, and there's someone you need to meet."

They ate in relative silence after that. When everyone was finished, with Rex, Kote, and Kix all making sure the youngling ate enough, Kote reached over to take Harry from the blond. Only the boy refused to be taken.

"Come on, Harry," the brunet sighed heavily, "I have to take you to Alpha and if we don't hurry, we're going to be late and then we'll all be in trouble."

"Don' wanna," he turned and wrapped his arms around Rex's neck.

"I can take him to Alpha," the blond sighed, not wanting to cause a scene.

"We'll both go," the other conceded. "You guys," he addressed the others at the table, "go ahead. We'll catch up."

That being said, Rex carefully pushed to his feet, cradling the boy to his chest, and fell into step behind Kote. They made their way out of the mess. The blond wasn't exactly sure where they were going but he trusted the other wouldn't lead him astray. A few minutes later, they entered a seemingly empty training room.

"Cutting it a bit close, Kote," obviously not so empty.

"Apologies, Alpha," he stiffened slightly as the other man appeared before them. "Someone didn't want to eat."

"I see," Alpha's gaze zeroed in on the boy. "Give him here, Rex. The cadets will be here shortly, and you two have places to be."

"Of course," the blond nodded, jostling the youngling in his arms slightly. "Alpha, this is Harry. Harry, this is Alpha. You're going to stay with him for now."

"Un-huh," he shook his head as his grip tightened.

"No," Kote reached over and gently forced the little arms loose. "You don't have a choice, Harry. You are staying here with Alpha," he passed him over to the other brunet. "We'll see you later."

A pout formed on his lips as green eyes tracked the pair's retreat. He didn't want them to leave. Logically, it made sense that he couldn't go everywhere with them, but he didn't think they'd leave him after only one day! Though, he wasn't sure why this surprised him, everyone always left him.

Maybe he'd messed up. I mean, they'd found him and taken care of him, but maybe they were just doing what they thought was their duty. And he had been ungrateful. The food was gross, but he didn't have to say anything about it. He should've just eaten it, like he was supposed to. And… and he'd threatened Waxer and yelled at Wolffe. And now they didn't want him anymore.

His thoughts were derailed when the man he'd been left with, Alpha, snorted and put him on the ground. He bowed his head and looked at his feet. He could feel tears building in his eyes but he refused to let them fall. Tears never brought relief, only trouble.

"Harry," Alpha was speaking, but he couldn't bring himself to look up, "before the others show up there are a few things to go over. You are to stay in the back and not draw attention to yourself. You will engage in the training to the best of your abilities. I do not demand perfection at this point, but I will in the future. And if you must address me or any of the other instructors, you will call us Sir. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," he answered automatically.

The words were quiet, almost enough that Alpha didn't catch them. But he had. It wasn't the volume that caught his attention though, it was the language in which it was spoken. While the majority of the clones knew Basic and Mando'a, thanks to the trainers, some of them did know more as their specific training dictated, but he and the other alphas were fluent in several different ones used throughout the galaxy. But the words the boy spoke were unfamiliar to him.

"Alright," Alpha frowned, choosing to ignore the strange words for now, but filing it away for examination later. "Take the spot in the back corner. And try not to draw attention to yourself."

"Yes, sir," he repeated and began to walk stiffly toward his assigned seat.

Less than five minutes later, almost two hundred identical children, Harry guessed their age to be around ten, marched into the room and began filing into the rows of seats. None of them seemed to pay him any mind, which he figured was a good thing all things considered. Once they were all seated, which took a surprisingly short time, Alpha called them all to attention and began the lesson.

888888

Rex and Kote fell into step beside each other as they left the training room. Both of them knew they had to hurry if they didn't want to be late for their own training but it wasn't very often they had a moment to themselves anymore.

When they were cadets, the two of them had been virtually inseparable, especially after Kote noticed the negative attention the other received because of his blond hair. As they had gotten older, and been divided into separate squads, a move that surprised nearly everyone except the majority of the trainers, they had still managed to find time to unwind and talk. In the past several months, though, the only things anyone had time for were training, eating, and sleeping. Everyone suspected that the war they'd been training for their entire lives was about to start, but no one was willing to voice it.

"So," Rex finally broke the comfortable silence between them, "how did things go last night?"

"Fine," the brunet shot him a look. "Why wouldn't it have been?"

"I was just asking," he shrugged. "It's not like I don't trust you, Kote. And he seemed find this morning. I was more curious how you're handling it."

"I'm handling it fine," Kote frowned. "Where is this going, Rex?"

"Okay," the blond rubbed his eyes. "What happened with Wolffe? I mean, he doesn't like Waxer, but he kind brought that on himself, so what did Wolffe do?"

"Wolffe was being Wolffe," the other shrugged. "He didn't like that I was making decisions that affected him and tried to challenge me about it, nothing new there. Harry didn't like it and told him if he had a problem with him, he should take it up with him."

"Bet that went over well," Rex shook his head, unsure whether to be amused or angry.

"Earned Wolffe's respect. In fact, he won't shut up about it. He's even threatening to adopt him."

"Right," he scoffed. "Like that will ever happen."

Kote did everything within his power to keep the fondness off his face at the other's obvious attitude, "Though, he did have a point. We are taking a big risk in keeping him with us."

"What do you mean?" his brows furrowed into a frown.

"I mean," the other sighed," we're not only putting him in danger, but we risk being decommissioned ourselves by keeping him with us. Logically, the best course of action would be to go to one of the trainers, or more specifically Prime, and have him taken off world and returned to where he came from."

"But we don't know where he came from," the blond countered. "He doesn't even know where he came from."

"That's beside the point," Kote shook his head. "Prime has the resources to figure it out. He's a bounty hunter after all."

"Then why didn't you go to Prime yesterday?" his fists clenched at his side and he refused to meet the other's eye.

"I thought about it," the brunet took a steadying breath. "But something held me back. I can't really explain it, but it's like something is telling me the safest place for him is with us. That he's meant to be with us," he shook his head. "I know it sounds crazy. And it is… but…"

"No," Rex cut him off. "It's not. While I would've trusted your judgment had you chose to do that, I feel the same way, Kote. He needs to stay with us, it's important, though I can't even begin to say why."

"It's settled then," Kote's lips twitched in a small smile as he placed a hand on the blond's shoulder. "We stick to the original plan. Now, we should probably get a move on, because right now neither one of us can afford to be late."

With that being said, they picked up the pace and practically jogged to their respective trainings.

888888

As soon as Alpha's class, physical training, had been dismissed and all the cadets had filed out of the room, the man made his way to the back of the room. He ushered a still silent Harry out of the room and into the care of Fordor, a fellow alpha, who had a group of cadets for the next block for weapons training. He quickly explained the situation, and agreed to retrieve the boy once the lesson was over before heading off for his next group.

Harry was once again sent to the back of the room before the cadets arrived. Once they had all settled, Fordor began with a lecture on proper weapon maintenance and care. Harry didn't really have a clue what the man was talking about, but he was trying his best to follow along. Alpha's class had been easy in comparison, it was just exercise and while he may not have been able to keep up with the others, he wasn't completely behind. This, though, was going over his head.

But he had to get it, he had to. He had to prove to Rex, and—and Kote too, that he could. That he was capable. That it was worth it for them to keep him around, and not send him away.

His thoughts were interrupted as something bumped into his seat. His head jerked up in surprise, trying to figure out the cause of the disturbance. He was supposed to be sitting in the back and not drawing attention to himself. And he thought he'd been doing a pretty good job of it, but obviously he'd been wrong.

His eyes locked on another boy, who was older than he was, about the same age as the other boys throughout the room, and crouched down next to his chair. He looked like all the others in the class, except his hair was longer, down to his ears, and curled outward at the ends.

"Hey, you're in my seat," the other hissed quietly, obviously trying not to draw attention.

"Uh," he said stupidly.

"Move it, runt," the other insisted. "I always sit here."

"I—I was towd ta sit hewe," he countered, barely loud enough to be heard.

"But that's my seat," the boy huffed. "You can sit there," he indicated a seat not even a foot to the side.

Green eyes locked incredulously with brown, "You'we kidding, wight?"

"No. Now move."

"Wook," he said as if explaining something to someone very young or very stupid. "I aweady sitting. It's not my fauwt you'we wate. So you sit thewe. Dumbass."

"Fine," brown eyes narrowed into a glare, while taking note of the students closest to them who were starting to fidget, obviously clocking the disturbance behind them. "If you get me caught, pipsqueak, I'll make you regret it."

"I not scawed of you," he scoffed, turning his attention back to the lesson.

Apparently, his attention had been diverted for longer than he thought, as the instructor was done speaking and was now making his way through the mass of students, passing something out. After several minutes, he'd finally made his way to the back of the room were Harry and the newcomer were sitting.

"Boba," the man stopped in front of the other boy.

"77," the now dubbed Boba pulled a face. "You gonna give me one or am I gonna have to go to my dad?"

"Empty threats get you nowhere, Boba," Fordor scoffed. "We both know that if you go to Prime, I won't be the only one getting in trouble. So, if you want to keep our little arrangement, you'll lose the attitude," he placed a gun on the table in front of the boy. "And since you decided to cop one in the first place, you get to help the shiny. It's his first day."

"But I…" the instructor leveled him with an unimpressed stare. "Fine, whatever."

Harry watched the byplay in silence, not sure what exactly was going on. A moment later, another gun was placed in front of him and the man made his way back to the front of the room. As soon as he was gone, he lifted the gun into his hands and began looking it over.

"So," Boba began taking apart the weapon in front of him, as his gaze darted in his direction. "Hey!" he reached over and snatched the gun from his hand. "Never point a blaster at your face. How stupid are you?"

"Not stupid," green eyes narrowed as a pout formed on his lips.

"Right," the other scoffed. "Okay, shiny, let's start at the beginning."

Ammie: Okay, so a couple things: First off I need a nickname for Boba to give Harry that will stick throughout the years, and the ones I used in this chapter are not cutting it, so any suggestions would be appreciated. Second, I plan for Harry to actually use magic in the next chapter or so, but I'm not sure what spell he should exactly use, so also taking suggestions for that as well, and keep in mind that he does have his 17 year old arsenal at his disposal. Anyway, please let me know what you think.