Star Wars does not belong to me. Just Skylar & Co.

And thank you, thank you, thank you to my amazing beta... emjalen! Your input really streamlined this chapter and thanks for putting up with me. ;)

Big thanks to emjalen, Kelana-ti, LongLiveTheClones, Delta808th, Vadersfist501, and LadyZelthePen for reviewing!

Be sure to leave a review telling me your thoughts and I'll send you a sneak peek of the next chapter!


After sneaking behind the ARC Trooper all the way from his quarters to the medbay, Rex was stopped from entering Ahsoka's quarters by Fives' hand on his arm, "What is it, Fives?" He was careful to keep his voice low, so as not to disturb the men sleeping in the main room of the medbay where they currently stood.

The ARC Trooper shifted uncertainly, "I didn't want to bother you with this now, Rex, but it's something that you need to know."

"Well, what is it?"

Rex thought that Fives was about to give him some advice, like 'take care of Commander Tano', or something like that. He wasn't expecting what came out of his brother's mouth.

"Several months ago, Beta was on a mission. Kot ran out of ammo and Top gave him some spares."

"I don't see how that-"

"Not finished. The spares didn't come from Top's kit. He'd picked them up from the droids they'd already killed. And they fit Beta's weapons perfectly. I noticed the same thing earlier with my own blasters."

"Why didn't your wife mention this sooner?" Fives shushed him as he looked around in panic, trying to make sure that no one was eavesdropping on their conversation. Their brothers were all still sleeping peacefully.

"Sergeant Cordav didn't mention anything because she hoped that it was an isolated incident. It's not."

Rex sighed, crossing his arms and tried not to let his irritation show as he glanced impatiently at the door. He really wanted to be at Ahsoka's side, not discussing the war, but this was just as important. "That means that one of our suppliers is double-dealing. I'll talk with General Skywalker and the Admiral about in the morning."

Fives nodded before positioning himself in front of the door's control panel. He keyed in a code they shouldn't have needed, and the door to Ahsoka's room hissed open quietly. Yularin actually tried to lock us out... That struck him as odd. Were his brothers really interfering that much? His thoughts drifted back to the time that Gabe's life had been threatened by a med droid. Except Ahsoka's not a clone. She'll be fine. I hope... "Where did you get-"

"Sky's very close to the Nulls."

"Ah."

That explains it. Those six are very well known for doing as they please. Just like I'm doing right now... But this isn't life or death. It isn't even an ethical issue. I just need to see her, to make sure that she'll be okay.

Rex glanced into the room, his heart in his throat at the sight of Ahsoka lying so still on the bed, an oxygen mask over her pale face. The monitors connected to her weren't giving any negative readings, which eased his worry somewhat. Forgetting for a moment that Fives was watching him, he took a step into the still room and stiffened when he saw that he wasn't the only one visiting the young Togruta woman. General Skywalker was reclined in a chair on the other side of the bed and it looked like he'd been asleep for a while.

Rex turned his head back towards the doorway to thank Fives, but the other clone was gone. He stepped back out of the room, scanning the medbay for his brother, but he was nowhere in sight.

As long as I stay quiet, General Skywalker will never know that I was in here.

Taking great care to keep his steps silent, the Captain walked to Ahsoka's left side, thankful that Fives had adamantly refused to take him anywhere until he'd changed into his fatigues first. It wouldn't do if the General did wake up and saw him in just his bodysuit. Wouldn't do at all.

He thought about pulling up the chair, but, as he glanced up to make sure that the General was still sleeping on Ahsoka's other side, he decided against doing so. Not worth the risk. If he wakes up...

Instead, Rex bent over the Togruta girl's still form, pressing his fingers to her wrist as gently as he could, preferring to believe his own intuition over the machines. He let out a sigh of relief when he found that her pulse was much stronger than it had been on the battlefield, and slipped his hand down further so that he could grasp her fingers in his.

"Ahsoka?" he whispered. He paused in an effort to gather his thoughts. He'd finally settled on 'don't you ever scare me like that again' when he felt her fingers tightening around his. Her eyelids fluttered and he held his breath.

"Rex?" she asked, her voice so low that he could barely hear her. She sounds so weak.

He brushed his other hand over her temple lightly. "I'm here," he answered, careful to keep his voice at a whisper. Skywalker snored, almost making Rex jump. He watched the other man for a few seconds to make sure that the General wasn't about to wake up, then turned back to Ahsoka, only to find her bright blue eyes watching him.

"What happened, Rexter? What am I doing here?" Her voice had gathered a little strength, but he shushed her gently.

"Take it easy, little 'un. You were shot defending Fives. If we hadn't got you here in time..." he trailed off, finding himself incapable of saying the words. To think that she'd almost died right there in his arms... Can't dwell on it. I just can't.

"Is Fives okay? And Master Skywalker?"

Her expression became panicked and Rex soothingly ran his fingers over her lekku and squeezed her hand as reassuringly as he could. "They're fine." He jerked his head toward the still sleeping General. Her gaze rested on her master before returning to him. "And, before you ask, we did win. We lost a lot of good men, but we won."

Not that winning's any comfort.

She nodded, her expression telling him that she didn't find much comfort in the victory either. He'd tell her who was lost once she'd recovered more. Her eyes fluttered as she fought to keep them open, "I'm sorry I scared you, Rexter."

Rex was about to deny that, but decided against it. There was no point in avoiding how he felt anymore. Fives is right, I do care about her. More than I'd thought. "I would tell you to never do that to me again, but something tells me that you probably wouldn't listen," he said, making an effort to keep his voice light.

There's no need for her to know just how scared I really was. Not now, at least. Later, when it's just the two of us.

She smiled at him as her eyes closed and her breathing deepened. For several minutes, the blonde clone watched as she slept.

Rex gently pried his fingers from hers' and began the trip back to his quarters. Finally looking forward to getting some much needed sleep now that he knew that his commander was going to be alright.


Skylar, Tea curled up next to her as Zephyr had taken over the little girl's room, was awakened by the sound of her comlink going off. She snatched it off the nightstand and opened the link, hoping that the blaring sound hadn't disturbed her little girl. Her daughter continued sleeping and Skylar breathed a sigh of relief as she carefully slipped off the bed, "F'ika? It's almost," she glanced at the chronometer on her bedside table, "0400 here. What's going on?"

"I needed to tell you that I love you, cyar'ika." There was no masking the desperation in her husband's voice.

Skylar gasped. "Gedet'ye tell me that you're not hurt, Fives."

"I'm fine, I'm okay. I promise. I just... Commander Tano was shot and-"

"Is she going to be okay?"

"Rex says that she is, but the entire situation reminds me of when you-"

"I'm fine, cyar'ika," she cut in before he could get himself worked up. "We all are."

"Even the baby?"

"Especially the baby. I'm already starting to show, just a little. He or she's growing fast, babe." She laid a hand on the very slight curve of her belly.

"Not too fast, right?"

Skylar knew what her husband was thinking. Even though Fives was excited about their youngest, he was worried about the baby inheriting his aging. Thankfully her medic had assured her that everything was proceeding normally. Although that was good news, living with the knowledge that her husband probably wouldn't live to see their kids all grown up hung over Skylar like a threatening shadow.

We've got to find a way to fix this. I wish Kal would let me in on his plans.

She tried to keep her fear for him out of her voice. No sense in worrying Fives for no reason. "No, everything's fine. Aside from the fact that we miss you."

Fives sighed, "I know, I miss you too." There was the sound of a door hissing open and some murmured words before he continued. It sounded like he'd been speaking with Rex. "I've got to go. Love you. Tell our girl that I love her."

Rex knows about us then, since Fives seems to be okay with saying stuff like that in front of him.

"I love you too, F'ika. And I will."


Later on that morning, Skylar sat in her office at Arca Barracks, a cup of blue milk in front of her instead of her usual cup of caf. Even though she was on maternity leave, she couldn't bear to be separated from her boys that long. Most of the men she knew didn't have the luxury of being able to visit her at the apartment. The men she'd befriended after the war began wouldn't understand why she allowed her boys to have relationships.

In my personal opinion, having girls that love them would be good for these boys. Not that the Tsad Droten would ever consider listening to her logic.

There was a knock on the door and she immediately stood, grabbing her flute. Most of the people in the Barracks would com her before showing up at her office. Vau was usually the one who didn't, and he was the one training sergeant that, although she respected him, she just couldn't get along with him.

The door opened but it was Kal Skirata who strode into her office, not Vau. Aside from the fact that the middle-aged man's limp was gone, not much had changed about him. The commando who came in behind the older mercenary carried himself in much the same way that Kal did, making it clear that he was one of Skirata's trainees. He's a little too thin for a Null, though. The six special ops troopers were the first of the GAR's clones, therefore the kaminiise had tampered with their DNA a lot more than they had with the rest. Ordo and his brothers were burlier than the average clone.

Kal raised an eyebrow at her and she relaxed her stance, laying her flute on her desk, "Sorry, Ba'vodu. I thought you might be Walon."

"The two of you still haven't settled your differences yet?"

She rolled her eyes, "That's rich, coming from the man who I thought hated his guts."

Skirata chuckled. "Not so much anymore. There's a lot more to Vau than we'd thought, apparently. Not that I completely trust him myself."

"That abusive di'kut? Whatever you say..."

Her eyes drifted to the commando, whose honey brown eyes were glued to her stomach. Cordav preferred skin-tight shirts, and she was well aware that they showcased her pregnancy, even though she was barely showing. She cleared her throat and the clone met her eyes, looking embarrassed. She extended her hand towards him and he took it. "Skylar Cordav. But you can call me 'Sky'."

"Niner," the man responded. Omega's sergeant. And a stickler for the rules. "I hear congratulations are in order. How far along are you?"

She smiled at him. "Vor entye, ner vod'ika. And two months."

Skylar looked back and forth between the two men, hoping against hope that they wouldn't ask who the father was. Judging by the way Kal was eyeing her, the older man already knew. Please don't chew me out. I can't deal with it, especially since my Fives isn't here.

"So..." Kal started off, meeting her eyes directly. He's not glaring, so that's something. He motioned to Niner who nodded. The commando left, shutting the door behind him. "When were you planning on telling me?"

"As soon as I could talk to you in person, Kal. You're basically my uncle, so I figured that would be better than telling you over a com." She stiffened, watching her adopted uncle warily, "And, by the way Niner was staring, he knows about me and Fives too, huh?" She was too much of a warrior to let her panic show on her face, but Skylar knew that Kal could see it in her eyes.

"Well, I didn't see any point in hiding it from him or Omega." No mention of the Nulls. They would have figured it out on their own anyway. "Mereel opened his big mouth in front of them." I knew it. The older man gave a sigh as he ran a hand over his close cropped hair, "And Dar has a son he doesn't know about."

Sky sure as haran wasn't expecting that little piece of information! Apparently, Kal had been hiding a lot more than just what he and the Nulls had done with Ko Sai, the Kaminoan's former head scientist. Or rather, what they had done with the rest of her as Delta had brought just her head back to Coruscant several months ago. He's done a shabla good of hiding that from me. No way in the manda would I have expected one of his boys being a father... I wonder who the mother is...

Wait a minute. Darman doesn't know that he's got a kid?


cyar'ika = sweetheart

gedet'ye = please

Tsad Droten = Republic

kaminiise = Kaminoans

ba'vodu = uncle

di'kut = moron

vor entye = thank you

ner = my

vod'ika = little brother

haran = hell

manda = heaven

Please R&R.