Sooo, basically I got bitten by the 'Happy AU'/'Fix-it-Fic bug and was overcome with an urge to rewrite the ending of Clone Wars.
Becaue I'm evil, there will be a fair amount of angst but there is a happy ending. Also, I blame Lillie Tano-Syndulla for getting me addicted to Chandelier. Without further ado, let's get on with...whatever this is...
Fives ran, he ran and ran until he was forced to stop at an alleyway. His chest heaved beneath his armor and sweat dripped from his forehead. His eyes darted around, frantically searching for anyone. His back pressed flat against the alley wall when a couple walked by, happily drunk and singing nonsense songs. He sighed, relaxing slightly now that he saw no patrols. They were trying to capture him, take him away.
They said he was a traitor... lies! He banged his fist against the wall and his body shook with uncontrolled anger. The Chancellor, yes, it was the Chancellor! And then, then it was the Kaminoans. Working for the enemy! Tell them, he had to tell them! General Skywalker, Rex, they would listen. They had to listen. He took off running again, his footfalls echoing in the underbelly of Coruscant. He turned a sharp corner to rid himself of the alleyway before slamming into something. He fell backward, giving a yelp of pain when his head smashed into the floor.
"Hey!" An angry voice sounded above him, and Fives' panic hit him at full force. He scrambled to his feet, but stumbled and fell into a wall again. "Next time watch where you're—!" The angry voice cut off with a gasp, Fives' head spun as he looked through slitted eyes at the figure making the noise. "Fives?" He froze, his heart rate increasing tenfold. They'd seen him, they knew who he was!
He tried to run again, but tripped on his own feet and sprawled onto the ground. "Fives, what are you doing? It's just me," The voice sounded familiar, and it was talking to him as if they were old friends. When his head stopped spinning, he looked up at the figure crouched above him. A Togruta girl with very familiar markings was looking at him, her head tilted to the side.
"Commander!" Fives gasped, scrambling to his feet. Ahsoka winced, but he paid it almost no heed. "You have to help me! I didn't do it, I swear it wasn't me!" Ahsoka frowned, stretching her hand out to him.
"Fives, what are you talking about?"
"The plot!" Fives glanced around, worried he might have been overheard. "The plot to destroy the Jedi." He hissed more quietly, leaning in closer to Ahsoka. The Togruta's face grew pale and she grabbed him by his shoulders.
"What's going on? What happened?"
"Not here!" Fives pulled away from Ahsoka in sudden fear, shaking his head jerkily. "Can't tell you, not here. General Skywalker, Rex, they're coming. Have to meet them, tell them! I have to tell them everything." Ahsoka flinched, but straightened up.
"Where are you going?" Fives took in his former Commander's appearance with his foggy mind, trying to gauge her thoughts. Her arms were crossed, her face set in fierce concentration that had proven useful on and off the battlefield. "You can trust me Fives," Ahsoka said softly, lowering her crossed arms. "I owe allegiance to no one now, except myself. If what you're saying is true, it could endanger people I care about." Her voice wavered slightly and she cleared her throat, "I want to help in any way I can."
"You believe me?" Fives' voice was quiet, almost meek. He looked up into Ahsoka's eyes, and he saw doubt. But he also saw faith, and he allowed himself a small sigh of relief. "I'm not crazy," he whispered, his head hanging.
"I know," he glanced up at Ahsoka, her eyes warm with sympathy. "It's okay, I'm not abandoning you." Her eyes glazed over, and she stared at nothing over Fives' shoulder. "They left me alone, but never again. I can be better, I can be better than them. Without their stupid Order and their stupid Code." She seemed to snap back into the present, and met Fives' gaze with new conviction. "Tell me everything you know, I need to be able to help plead your case."
Even in his muddled thoughts, Ahsoka's words clicked something into place. He needed help, they might not believe him. But they'd believe Ahsoka, they'd have to believe her. When had she ever lied? He must have told her the coordinates, but he didn't remember saying anything. All he knew was that Ahsoka was grabbing him by the arm and helping him walk, pressing him against a wall when a patrol walked by. He answered her questions with frantic, half-thought out explanations. Time was running out, and time was too precious to waste.
"Well, these are the coordinates Kix gave us." Anakin said, his voice lowered to almost a whisper as Rex dropped down beside his General. "Let's hope Fives is inside."
Rex just sighed and shook his head slightly. "I hope he knows what he's doing." Fives was a good soldier, he wouldn't have done any of this without a reason. Just as a precaution, he drew his blasters. Fives might be a loyal soldier, but he was sick. Infected with the same thing that had killed Tup, there was no telling what he'd do. He saw that Anakin had also drawn his lightsaber, a dull blue glow illuminating the pair. They walked farther into the abandoned warehouse, Rex's muscles tensed to fight.
"Fives," Anakin called into the darkness, his voice wary. "Fives, we're here." Rex slid his gaze around the room, trying to see with the dim light his General's lightsaber gave off. "Come on out, we just want to talk to you." The pair kept walking, and Rex was getting more and more anxious. Where was Fives? Did something happen to him? Was it a trap?
"General Skywalker," Fives' voice sounded to their left and they paused, "thank you, thank you for trusting me." He sounded relieved, but also frantic. His voice was jumpy and nervous. Rex slowly moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with his General, still not able to catch sight of Fives. "Have you come without troops?"
"We have," Anakin said slowly, moving back to back with Rex. Fives still remained hidden.
"Put down your weapons then." Rex instinctively gripped his pistols tighter, his head swiveling left and right.
"I don't think so Fives." Anakin retorted, his body going slightly rigid. He and Rex still circled, staying back to back.
"Please sir!" Fives' frantic outburst echoed throughout the hangar. "Please," he continued quieter, "I'm unarmed." Rex shared a look with Anakin and the Jedi nodded, deactivating his lightsaber. Rex paused, regretful to continue without some sort of protection. But this was Fives, he wouldn't do anything. Would he? Shaking off his confusing thoughts, Rex raised his pistols in the air so Fives could see them from wherever he was hiding.
"All right, I'm putting my pistols down." He set them carefully down, on a box that was close enough that he could reach them if need be. He backed away, raising his palms in the air so Fives could see his hands were empty.
"What're we here for Fives?" Anakin asked, moving in front of Rex as the latter slowly lowered his hands again.
"I need your help." Rex and Anakin began to move forward, both trying to appear calm and nonthreatening.
"I know you do," Anakin said, his voice soothing. Rex strained his ears, trying to figure out where Fives was. "We know you're not well, it's been rough for you these past couple days." Anakin chose his words carefully, Rex knew his General didn't want to scare Fives off.
"I'm not crazy!" Fives shouted, and Rex nearly flinched. He sounded stressed and agitated, something was wrong. "Please, please just—just hear what I have to say." This time both Rex and Anakin looked in the same direction. There, Fives was over there.
"We're here to help you Fives, just come with us." Anakin's tone was still gentle as they moved toward Fives' voice. They didn't want him making a run for it, or doing anything irrational. "Let us take you back to the Temple." A low humming sounded above them and Rex looked up just in time to see a ray shield drop around him and Anakin. "No!" The Jedi shouted, pounding his fist against the barrier.
"I just need you to listen to me." Fives pleaded, coming out from behind a crate not twenty paces away from them. "Please," he threw his hands out, Rex squinted. He couldn't see his brother's face, not well anyway. It was impossible to tell what Fives' intentions were.
"I'm not really sure we have any other choice." Anakin snapped, crossing his arms.
"I was framed," Fives cried, "because I know the truth. The truth about a plot, a massive deception."
"By who?" Rex inquired, his gaze hard as he stepped up by Anakin. He was getting more and more dubious by the second.
"Well, there's a sinister plot. And it works against the Jedi!" Fives shouted, waving his hands around in the air. "I have proof of it," he gestured desperately to himself, "I can prove that everything I know is true beyond a shadow of a doubt!" He looked mad, screaming and waving his arms like a lunatic.
"Show me the evidence." Anakin demanded, his voice laced with skepticism.
"The...evidence...is...in here." Fives spoke slowly, as if it were a struggle just to form the words. "It's—it's in here. It's in all of us, every clone."
"What is it?" Rex asked, unable to keep the interest from his voice as he leaned forward.
"Organic chips, built into our genetic code." Fives leaned against a smooth crate, his head in the crook of his elbow. "To make us do whatever someone wants." His voice turned malicious, whipping his head upward. "Even kill the Jedi, it's all in here." He jabbed himself on the side of the head with his index finger, stumbling forward.
Anakin's glower remained as he looked back at Rex. Rex just looked down, beginning to rub the back of his neck. He didn't know what to believe, Fives wasn't a liar. But if he truly was infected, he could have lost all grip on reality. "Let's just get you some help first, then we can review everything." Only Rex noticed the strain in his General's otherwise calming voice. "It'll be okay Fives, we can sort this out."
Fives' eyes darted around nervously before hardening, lifting his face up as he let out a betrayed scream. "You don't believe me!"
"Fives stop!" That voice, that was her voice. Rex jerked his head upward as Anakin's face dropped. Ahsoka jumped down from her position in the rafters, landing softly beside the distressed trooper. "Calm down, you need to think clearly."
"C-Commander," Fives gasped as he reached a hand toward the girl. She grabbed his hand, turning her gaze toward his eyes.
"I can tell them what you told me Fives, just calm down." The trooper placed a hand on the back of his neck, shaking his head slowly. Ahsoka straightened up, but kept her eyes downcast. Rex shot a wary look at Anakin, worried how his General would react. Anakin was frozen, one hand extended to almost it's full length. His fingers splayed out as though to touch his former padawan.
"Ahsoka—" Anakin rasped, his eyes shining as he took a half-step forward.
"Ahsoka," Rex interrupted, his voice breaking only slightly as he stepped in front of his General. The ray shield still shimmered, warping and twisting his view. "Do you truly believe what Fives is saying?"
"Yes," her voice was clear even though her face was angled at the floor. "I have no reason to doubt him, and there's no reason to treat him like a criminal."
"He tried to assassinate the Chancellor." Rex said, taken aback by Ahsoka's bluntness.
"No!" Fives cried, surging forward and placing his hands against the ray shield. "No, no he tried to kill me! After he told me the plan, in the medical bay! The plan to kill the Jedi!"
"The Chancellor isn't capable of what you claim." Anakin's voice was hard, an almost imperceptible undercurrent of sadness joining the anger. "He's a good man whose only interest is for the greater good."
"Anakin," Rex noticed his General flinch when Ahsoka addressed him by his name. "You know as well as I do that anyone can hide their true colors. No matter how good they claim to be. We have a chance to stop it before it's too late." Anakin hung his head, and Rex looked anywhere in the room except at his mad brother and his former Commander.
"Stand down soldier, stand down!" All four of them turned in surprise when a patrol of Coruscant Guard members entered the building, blasters raised. "Get on your knees!"
"No, no no! Stay back!" Fives shouted, his gaze darting to the blasters that Rex had left unattended.
"Don't do it, don't do it soldier!" The lead one—Fox—cried.
"Get away from me!" Fives roared, picking up the blaster.
"Fives, no!" Rex and Ahsoka screamed simultaneously, both of them moving toward him. Rex smashed into the barrier and Ahsoka collided with Fives as the blaster shot rang out. Ahsoka screamed in pain as the shot hit her in the shoulder, and she collapsed on top of Fives.
"Ahsoka!" Anakin's voice radiated fear and worry as he smashed his fists into the shield that separated them. His mood quickly shifted to anger and he jerked his head up so angrily that Rex actually took a few steps away from his General. "CEASE FIRE!" He bellowed it so forcefully that the patrol actually skidded to a halt, lowering their blasters. "And get this ray shield off!" Fox raised his blaster and shot at the power source, deactivating the shield. Anakin moved over to Ahsoka, his hands only just trembling. "Are you okay?"
The Togruta groaned, lifting herself up off of Fives with one arm. The other she cradled closely to her chest. Instead of answering Anakin, she staggered to her feet and stood over Fives. "You can't take him, he knows what's really going on."
"With all due respect Ahsoka," Fox stepped forward, "how do you know he hasn't just gone mad?"
"Because there's something off about this whole situation!" She snapped, spreading her good arm wide. "What are the Kaminoans claiming those chips do exactly?"
"They say the chips keep our aggression in check," Rex said slowly, "it's why they were put in us."
"But did Fives act aggressively towards anyone before he came here? And those chips don't prevent madness!"
"Tup," everyone looked to the ground, where Fives was beginning to stand up. He'd discarded the blaster, his earlier panic replaced with a heavy sorrow. "Tup's malfunctioned, he died because of it." Ahsoka flinched, and Rex looked at the floor. "But it drove him crazy, before he died."
"And you're acting crazy, but your chip's been removed." Rex said, beginning to catch on.
"Exactly!" Ahsoka gestured with her uninjured arm before wincing and grabbing her shoulder. "Where do the dots connect? The chips don't stop madness, but the Kaminoans are claiming Fives has gone mad because his chip was removed. There's got to be another factor for Fives acting out other than the chips, there should be an investigation in a controlled environment." Anakin sighed, and looked down at his former padawan.
"I see where you're going with this Ahsoka, and I agree it sounds suspicious. But an awful lot of your argument is based on speculation, you can't defend a convict with pure speculation."
"Then we take Fives back to the Temple." Ahsoka turned to her former Master, holding her injured shoulder gingerly. "We can put him somewhere so even if he's truly gone mad, he won't hurt anyone. We run tests, and we don't tell the Chancellor or the Kaminoans about it."
"We report directly to the Chancellor Ahsoka, you know this." Anakin warned, crossing his arms.
"You don't have to!" Ahsoka snapped, glaring at everyone in the room. "The Jedi Order is not a part of the Republic Senate, the Jedi are supposed to serve the greater good. Not the Senate, last time I checked the Chancellor wasn't a Jedi. So why do you have to report everything to him, including internal Jedi affairs?" Anakin looked at a loss, and the clones looked away, offering no comments. "We don't lose anything by performing a simple procedure. If it's all speculation, then everything goes on as normal. But if it is in fact true, a horrible catastrophe will have been averted." Ahsoka cast her gaze around the hangar, challenging anyone to tell her she was wrong.
"All right Ahsoka, we can bring this to the Council." Anakin sighed, shaking his head slowly. "I recall Master Shaak Ti wanted to have the Council look at Fives anyway." Ahsoka nodded, and began to shuffle her feet. Obviously at a loss for what to do next. "You can come with us to plead Fives' case to the Council, if you wish." Anakin's tone was hesitant, and Ahsoka froze. Silence hung over the group like a fog, tension thick in the air.
When Ahsoka finally spoke, her voice was even and measured. "I will go for Fives, nothing more." Anakin winced, but nodded his consent. Without looking back, the group headed outside. Towards the Temple, to new truths and dark secrets.
A/N: This will be an ongoing fic, hopefully it won't be too long and I'll probably update once a week. On a good week, you might even get two chapters from my overworked brain! *le gasp* Please let me know if I got the characters right or if I can improve on anything. Critisicm is appreciated as long as it's not too rude, and reviews are like getting a sugar high for me so please review! XD