In explanation for why this: if you've ever been in a staring competition with a sibling, you should know exactly what this is like. If not...Just warning you, it probably won't make a lick of sense.
So warning to everyone: this chapter is mostly fluff and the boys really acting like brothers (as opposed to usually when they have to act like officers)
Three days later. Two hours from departure to Alderaan.
''How did she do it?'' Cody groaned, shaking his head as he glanced over at Rex from across the Captain's small quarters. ''Or I guess I should ask: How or why did we let her do it? Seriously, think about it: two high-end officers being being told by a fourteen-year-old Padawan to go off the field and take a week off. How could it have happened to us? How? The guys in the battalions will never let us hear the end of it. How does her order out-rank an officer's reputation?''
''Well, she technically out-ranks us.''
Cody scoffed. ''She out-ranks you; I was talking about myself.''
''Then you have a very collective 'self' given what you were saying earlier.''
''Save it. It's bad enough that I actually have to live with you for the next week; the least you could do is wait to start annoying me till after we get there so no one will notice if you go missing mysteriously.''
Rex cocked an eyebrow. ''Was that a threat?'' he teased, crossing his arms over his chest.
''You know I don't make them idly.'' Cody wagged a finger in his face, his lip curling.
''Ugh,'' Rex scoffed jokingly in mock offense. ''I had no idea you felt that way.''
''Oh,'' he hissed, his voice low and dangerously menacing as he gave him a cruel smile, ''It doesn't matter how I feel. What matters it how you won't feel if I survive this. To put it simply, you'll be. . .missed.''
Rex gasped dramatically. ''No. You wouldn't! My own brother!''
''Oh don't worry. There are only ten thousand others that could take your place. Don't worry, no one will notice.''
He met his challenging gaze and held it; neither of the men moved, both daring the other to blink first. . .
Cody's POV:
No. He wasn't going to blink. Not yet.
His eyes narrowed, now only the barest of golden glints visible under his brows. The muscles in his neck and shoulders tensed, leaving him rigid as his left fist balled with concentration.
He wasn't about to let that little under-aged moron beat him this time. He'd already dragged him into a ridiculous whole-week vacation merely because Rex wasn't competent enough to resist the puppy eyes that Commander Tano had undoubtedly given him.
A faint grin twitched at the corners of his lip at the thought before it just as quickly disappeared.
Rex saw it, didn't move for a moment. Then jerked his chin in the slightest of a 'Whatup' nod. Cody frowned, cocking his head, his expression saying, ''What?''
The Captain pursed his lips, trying not to smile while he shook his head as if to say, 'Nope; nothing.''
That meant he was up to something. It was practically written all over his face. They hadn't known each other this long only to not know when the other was about to pull an illegal card from the deck.
Cody frowned, not liking the smug smirk on his face. Rex was leaning against the opposite wall, arms crossed over his chest and had cocked an eyebrow in amusement.
There was something disturbingly wrong with how relaxed he was. Cody knew he must be used to this game given how old Ahsoka was, but that didn't. . .Hold on. .He..?
Wait. . .
He was used to this! Which meant, even worse. . .
He was toying with him!
Anger stirred in Cody's gut, and he had to force it down as best he could, never taking his eyes off his brother.
He wouldn't win this-Not if he could help-
The Captain's cocked eyebrow wiggled slightly, challenging the Commander's glare.
As cadets, the gesture had never failed to bring a smile to his face, even when he'd considered it being at the worst of times. Now was no different.
So that was Rex's plan: Get him to smile and then he'd have to blink.
Cody had sat there for merely a minute, expression tense. And now his own self-control was being tested! The stink'n dirty little wamp-rat.
It wouldn't work, He told himself sternly. Not this time. Not-
The corners of Cody's lips flickered upward. Rex caught it and his lopsided grin grew from ear to ear. Then he winked.
Cody pursed his lips in annoyance. Mentally, he groaned. He already knew. . .
He'd lost.
Rex's POV:
Rex was totally toying with Cody and he knew it. He'd done this so many times during arguments with Ahsoka that the staring contest had practically become second-nature, almost to the point that he had a rather unfair advantage over the commander.
But he wasn't going to regret it now; there was plenty of time for that later. . .Once he was a 'safe' distance away from the Commander. . .when they where separated by merely an inch with Cody cocking back a fist...
Never been in that situation before, he thought, trying to suppress a shiver while maintaining the same cock-sure grin he'd plastered on.
Sure, Cody could be a great guy and all, but when he could be freakish when he was mad. . .especially in close quarter combat. . .with a knife.
The scar on his chin was evidence of that enough.
Still, this was one of the few times he'd be able to get away with it. Cody would never actually try something when he wasn't on his ship. As far as Rex was concerned, he was in enemy territory when it came to get-backs. He could pull it off for sure, but he wouldn't get away with it. And that was the key.
Which meant that Rex was free to conduct brotherly torture on Cody as long as he wanted before they both went into hostile terrain. That was merely the way of the world. So he didn't even think to resist the urge to prod a little more then just the Commander's will-power to keep his eyes open.
Now for self-control. Let's see how well he does against smiles. He definitely needs to work on them.
And, just to add to the peer-pressure, he winked (which...was technically cheating; but he figured Cody wouldn't be able to call him on it) A minute later, Cody's resolve faltered-just for a second-and he slipped a grin. Then he winced. . .instinctively and inevitably closing his eyes as he did so. . .
''HA!'' Rex shouted, pointing triumphantly at his opponent. ''You blinked first!''
''Aw, kriff it, Rex. You practice!''
''Of course. I have to deal with a teenage female for ninety percent of every day; after that, you'd think I wasn't good at this?''
''So you admit you have an unfair advantage.''
''Oh, definitely.'' he replied cheekily.
The wolfish grin on Cody's face and devilish gleam in his eyes told him too late that he'd said the wrong thing.
Before he could move, only able to freeze as he watched in slow motion his doom rushing to greet him, Cody had dashed the two steps across the room and latched him with a quick, relatively painless uppercut. Rex retaliated by shoving his palm into his face to push him back before grabbing his outstretched arm and whipping a punch into the other's gut. Cody grunted on impact, but only seemed to get more frustrated. Sweeping his foot against Rex's heel to unbalance him, Cody grabbed him and shoved him into the wall.
They struggled there for a moment, only realizing just how much fun they were having when their eyes caught and they both grinned. Then Cody shoved harder.
That was one of the problems with being in command: if wasn't often you were just able to wrestle like this. Obviously, as that was the case, that also meant that when it did happen, there was no holding back.
Laughing at the barrage, Rex twisted his torso to the wall, before snapping it around as Cody pulled back for another jostle. Catching him off balance, Rex pushed off from the wall, driving Cody to the other side. Yet somehow, they both tripped, sending them crashing to the floor.
Laughing harder, they wrestled for the top, exchanging shoves and playful insults until Cody managed to roll out of the way of Rex's elbow crashing into his gut. In the split second of his back being turned as his arm cocked up, Cody slid under him and hooked him around the neck.
Twisting, Cody managed to flip Rex over him and rolled, sitting on his back as he pinned him to the ground in a head-lock. He grinned, his eyes gleaming in mock cynicality while he switched arms and curled the fingers of his right hand into a fist.
But first, what was a little tussle without antagonizing?
Leaning over just enough to whisper into his ear, Cody snipped, ''Hope that since you shaved your head it's become hard as a rock.''
Rex's eyes went wide, clearing understanding the implication because then he struggled harder, wiggling uncontrollably; yet to no avail. As cadets, though Cody had been older, Rex had been stronger, which had often led matches to end with Cody on the bottom while Rex sat on top of him. Needless to say, the Commander was going to enjoy every moment of the tides being turned for once.
Chuckling as he shook his head, Cody made sure he had a good grip on the Captain before he started rubbing his knuckles across Rex's scalp, building the friction.
''Hey!'' he managed to protested, barely understandable through the now pained laughs. ''What did I ever do to you?''
''Everything!''
''Ow,ow,OwOW, Cody, can you stop? That's actually starting to hurt.''
''Then what's the point?'' Cody shrugged. ''No one knows we're fighting so there's no one to save you.''
Barely seconds later, help arrived to save him.
At the light knocking on the door, Rex lifted his head.
''Yeah?'' he managed, his voice a bit strained because Cody was holding his grip a little tight, though the sound of the knocking had made him hold off his favorite brotherly torture method.
''Hi, guys!'' A voice chirped from behind the door as it opened, ''Hey, I just needed to drop off this stuff for your trip.'' The Padawan said, dropping a duffle bag on the floor as she peered down at datapad.
''And-wHAAAAT are you doing?'' Ahsoka had glanced up from her pad and froze, staring at the two men, raising an eyebrow at their noticeably redder faces and heavier breathing.
What a sight they must have been, Rex thought; himself in a head-lock under Cody's arm while the commander sat on him and both of them staring back wide-eyed up at her.
They both looked at each other, then at her...
Cody shrugged in reply. ''Oh, nothing. Just trying to harmlessly kill each other.''
Rex snorted, Says the man as smoothly feline like he was asking about the weather.
Ahsoka blinked...Then nodded, peering back down at the pad. ''Okay. Now, before I forget and before you go, Master Skywalker wants to see you both at the docking bay...in your civvies. '' she added, a wry, emphatic grin on her face.
Shaking her head, she continued. ''Just a warning: he didn't confirm anything, and I didn't ask, buuut he was holding his datapad when he headed that way. Soooo, I don't think it would be beneath him to have pre-vacation pictures on his to-do-list.''
Giving the Captain on final jostle before releasing him, Cody stood, suddenly glaring down at the bag.
''Hold it, I just thought of something,'' His sharp eyes darted to meet hers, ''Who picked out the clothes?''
Ahsoka held up a hand. ''Don't worry, it's nothing weird. Skyguy helped me with which ones would go to who. 'Though,'' she wrinkled her nose thoughtfully, peering them both up and down, ''since you're both the same size, I guess now it really doesn't matter who gets what except for your personal color preferences. All the same, as for the style, it's more like something one would have to wear on a hiking trip.''
Squatting, she unzipped the duffle and pulled out two backpacks. Out of the black one, she tossed a bundle of black and tan to Rex prier to opening the green one and tossing a bundle of white and green to Cody. When they inspected the bundle, they found it was the basics of outer clothes tied together with a belt.
''Your sizes weren't hard to find.'' Ahsoka said, watching them carefully as they checked the size tags. ''Since you're both only an inch shorter then Master Skywalker, he was able to find the right fit.''
She nodded briefly at the clothes, ''Those aren't the only pairs too. There's another two sets for both of you since you can't wear one pair for a whole week.''
Rex grunted, sneaking a glance at her, ''Do I want to ask where you guys got the credits for this? Who you had to bribe to get the loan or what not? What you told to the Council in order to get clearance for this? Do I really want to ask?''
''What makes you say we did that!?'' she asked hotly, glaring at him for a moment.
''Because,'' he pressed, voice deepening darkly, ''I know you.''
She wrinkled her nose at him, putting her hands on her hips. ''We didn't bribe anyone.'' she replied indignantly, ''...And what we told the Counsel was that it was important for a very special mission.''
Aaaaaaand there it is. Yep. Should have seen that coming.
Cody sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he muttered through his hand, ''Here we go again. The Jedi are going to have yours and Skywalker's hides when they find out about this.''
''Who says they'll find out it was for you two to get a week off? I'm mean, it's not like you're going to Coruscant where you'll have to have to show ID for everything. On Alderaan, you'll be in the mountains so you won't have to worry about neighbors. It'll be nice and quiet.''
She shrugged, ''It'll be the perfect place.''
Yep. The perfect place to bury a unknown body when I'm through with it, Cody thought, knowing by the shared glance that Rex was thinking as lovely thoughts as he was about him.
''So, on Alderaan,'' Cody commented, ''What section?''
Ahsoka shrugged, ''I donno. All I know is that it's in the mountains.''
''In that case, how'd you find out about this place you keep speaking of?'' Rex asked.
Shrugging again, she winked, undoubtedly trying to sound mysterious (and just as undoubtedly: not succeeding). ''I have connections.''
Cody glared at Rex, punching him in the shoulder. ''I thought you told me that you and Skywalker had band her from the comm-rooms and her personal datapad in order to keep her from pranking the squads that she knew.''
''I did.''
''Wait!'' Ahsoka held up a hand, looking offended, ''Are you saying that you and Cody have been keeping tabs on me?!''
Rex looked down at her, ''You're the Padawan to one of the most reckless Jedi in history and you're learning from him. It's kind of my job; I thought it'd be obvious.''
''Well,'' she stuttered, her eyes rolling at the ceiling, ''duh, but there's that and the fact that you band me from my datapads and yet here you are spilling my life to your brother by way of texting! Not fair.''
''Well since I'm the adult, I can technically do that.''
''I'm older then you by four years!''
''Yeah, well sometimes the body has to catch up to the mind.''
Another glance at her before adding under his breath, ''Or in your case, the mind-slash-attitude has to catch up to the rest of you.''
Cody could only just barely stifle a laugh before it slipped out because of the enraged expression on her face.
''And you know,'' he continued, ''now that you mention it, I'm beginning to wonder if you set us up for this just to get rid of us so you can take down Skywalker while we're gone.''
''Ooh,'' she scowled, ''You and Skywalker both! Just get changed and head down to the docking bay.''
When she was gone, Cody couldn't hold it back any longer. He barked out a laugh.
Nodding as he chuckled, Rex watched down the corridor as she stormed off. ''She thinks I can't surprise her anymore.'' He gave a slight huff of amusement, ''As if.''
''All the same, we'd better do what she says. I've seen her spar you and I don't think next round she'd be so friendly about it.''
''Yeah,'' he admitted, ''That's true. Then come on, we need to hurry so my apology to her doesn't seem to ridiculous and only make her mad again.''
Cody stopped. ''Wait, what? Apology? For what?''
''For teasing her.''
''You mean, you didn't mean it?''
''Of course I did, but only in part.''
''Then what part was wrong that you need to apologize for?''
''The actual teasing part.''
Cody groaned, the words blending together and running right over his head. ''What ever.''
But as he headed for the refresher to change, he paused, ''Are you sure you can't hold off your guilty conscious until after we come back? I mean, just a week?''
''No.''
''Fine.'' He paused again, then gave Rex a smirk. ''But, I'll have you know, because of that little scene right there, you know what I'm thinking, don't you?''
Rex sighed, ''Yes, Cody, I know what you're thinking.''
''Good, 'cause I'm going to say it anyway: you're such a dad.''
But as Cody disappeared through the door and Rex picked up his new backpack to inspect its contents, he couldn't help but smirk,
Yeah right. I'm not the only one...And if I am, at least I'm cool enough to pull it off.
Haha, Cody. You're just covering up ;) (Rex just hasn't figured that out yet because he hasn't met the Batch yet and won't for another few years...but I'm sure he'll put the pieces together once he does)
Okay here we go, last already written chapter :[] SOOOOOOooooooooooooooo...from now on, we're just going to have to see where this goes.
Anyway, thank you for reading! :D I hope you enjoyed it!
Special thanks to: Revee, Cuthalion97, and TK-632 for reviewing! :D Thank you for the support guys!