This was suggested by Sandriassaber. Thanks!


Cody and Rex walked silently down the halls of Kamino long after everyone was supposed to be asleep. The battle—though ultimately a Republic victory—had done great damage and cost many lives. Cody was putting off writing the reports, though he'd never admit it. Rex halted.

"Do you hear that?" He asked quietly. Cody stopped and listened. Voices. It was odd, because the cadets weren't allowed to be up at this time. He nodded and opened the door to the room on his left. The young clones froze as he looked in.

"You're supposed to be in bed." Cody admonished gently.

"Sorry, commander." One of them said.

"We couldn't sleep." Another admitted. Cody knew what it was like. He doubted he could sleep now if he tried, despite being worn out from the fighting. There was just too much going on, and too much emotion to rest.

"I've got an idea." Rex said. "Let's work some of that off." He winked at Cody.

"What do you mean?" A cadet asked.

"The simulations." Rex said. "It'll help calm you down." Now Cody very much doubted that, but it might tire the cadets out.

"Sounds good." Cody said. It was technically against the rules but…whatever. He'd find some excuse when General Kenobi asked about it. They left the room with the cadets in tow and headed to the training area where the simulations were. Rex shooed the cadets in and leaned back against the wall to watch. It wasn't long before the cadets returned.

"How'd you do?" Rex asked, despite having watched the whole thing.

"Not great." One of them said with a grimace. "These things are so hard!" Rex and Cody glanced at each other.

"You just need practice." Rex said, a little too cheerfully. "Experience outranks everything, you know. Like how I can beat Cody even though he's a commander."

"Come now, you know that's not true." Cody snorted. "I beat you just yesterday."

"Sparring." Rex replied. "But I beat you in—"

"Show us!" A cadet urged. Rex glanced at Cody.

"Uh…"

"Gonna back down now?" Cody challenged. Rex's gaze snapped to his.

"No." He said, chin rising. Cody smirked.

"Didn't think so. I'll take the first sim room; you take the second. Highest score wins." Cody said. Rex nodded.

"Deal." One of the cadets entered some numbers into the simulators and then the two clones entered.

"Destroy all targets." The intercom said calmly. A holographic landscape formed and then the enemies appeared. Cody found himself facing commando droids. He shot one and dodged into cover. The droids advanced. Cody peeked out and shot another through the head before backing away. There were three more. That was enough to give anyone a challenge. Cody instinctively wished for Rex as backup before remembering that he was trying to beat his brother. Cody gave the nearest commando droid a grim smile as he shot it several times. The bolts did little but darken the armor. Cody was undeterred. He was not going to let Rex win. He'd never live it down. Cody got in a better shot and the commando fell. Two left.

Cody ducked behind a holographic outcropping of rock as the droids continued to approach. Then they split up. Cody shot, his bolts again doing little. The droids were too close. Cody backed up, taking careful aim. He shot and then jumped aside as the droid fired. The blaster bolt just missed him, but Cody's shot found its mark. The droid broke up into holographic pixels and disappeared. One left. The droid rounded the rock Cody was hiding behind. Cody fired. It hit the droid in the head and the droid disappeared. Cody breathed a sigh of relief as the sim door opened. He stepped outside. Rex was waiting, a smug look on his face. Cody checked the scores. He was behind Rex by five points. This was not acceptable.

"Two blasters." Rex said with a shrug.

"Best out of three?" Cody asked. Rex hesitated, his smirk disappearing. He knew he and Cody were too evenly matched to have a sure victory.

"Sure." Rex decided. "If you wanna get beaten two more times."

"Beaten?" Cody said. "I was letting you get a head-start." Rex pointed to another simulator.

"Let's try that one." He said. Cody smirked. Rex grabbed up the sim blaster and tossed it to him before taking his own. They put on special armor that would keep count of their hits and entered. The goal was to infiltrate the other clone's base without getting killed. The first one to do so won. It was usually played with a team. This way was easier—no clones defending the base.

Cody snuck off through the holographic trees. He could hear Rex moving as well and tried to avoid him. He caught sight of Rex's base and crouched at the tree-line. Rex was nowhere to be seen. Cody surveyed the land ahead of him. It was flat, with no cover. If Rex was hiding somewhere, he would have a clear shot when Cody ran for the base. But, knowing Rex…Cody made his choice and stood. He took a breath, readied his blaster, and ran for it. Automatic blasters along the walls fired, so Cody adopted a zig-zagging pattern towards the base. He came to the wall and flattened himself against it. Now to actually enter the base. Rex could be waiting inside to shoot him as he entered. That had happened before. But it wasn't likely. Cody dashed towards the gate and entered without hesitation. He ducked an automatic blast—the sims became rather predicable after a while—and darted through the checkpoint. The world dissolved and became a large training room. Rex turned from the other side of the room and waved.

"Nice job, Codes. But I'll beat you next time!"

"Good luck, little brother. You'll need it." Cody laughed. They left the sim, both glancing at each other. Cody smirked.

"You're not gonna win this one, brother." He said. Rex tilted his head.

"Why not?" He asked, a challenge in his voice. Cody pointed at the sim the cadets had picked out. It involved shooting at each other until one team was defeated. It was a simple, common simulation that Cody excelled at.

"Teams?" Rex asked.

"We can use the cadets." Cody replied. The cadets looked a little nervous. Cody smiled dangerously.

"Unless you're too scared, Rex…"

"Like you have to ask." Rex laughed. The cadets suited up and followed the older clones into the room. Cody crouched behind holographic boxes and had the cadets gather around. Because Rex was on the defending side, they would have to come up with a plan of attack.

"Rex is insanely good." He whispered. "Leave him to me. Take out his teammates and provide a distraction. You two, go in from the front. The rest, come from the sides. Remember to stay in cover." Cody smirked. "I'm gonna come around back." He gave a few more instructions, and then they bolted off. The sound of blaster fire filled the sim. Cody crept around back until he glimpsed Rex's helmet and he froze, leveling his blaster. He darted out into the open, only to be stopped by Rex's blaster at point blank range. Rex wasn't even looking at him.

"Predictable, Cody." Rex teased. Cody laughed.

"You haven't got me yet, Rex'ika."

"Fine then, Codes." Rex fired. Cody whirled to the side, but the bolt grazed his shoulder.

"CC-2224 has been hit." The intercom said. There was another shot.

"CT-7567 has been hit." The intercom said. Rex stared. He turned around to see one of the cadets smirking.

"You forgot about me." He said, a little proudly. Cody beamed.

"Good job, trooper." He said. Rex shook his head and laughed.

"You got me." He said.

"And my team won." Cody said.

"Best out of five?" Rex asked.

"Nah." Cody replied.

"You just don't want to chance losing." Rex complained. Cody grinned.

"Maybe. Or maybe I need to write reports. One of which will hold up to the record." Rex groaned.

"I'll get you next time."

"Possibly." Cody admitted. Then he smirked. "But that's not very likely." Rex started to argue, but Cody cut him off.

"We should get the cadets to bed." He said. Rex gave a nod and they brought the young clones back to their room before parting ways and returning to their own. In the morning, when General Kenobi asked what Cody had been doing, Cody faked ignorance.

"But, General, I was up doing reports. Why would I be near the simulators?" He protested. Kenobi just laughed.

"It was another of Rex's challenges, wasn't it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, General." Cody said with practiced innocence. Kenobi nodded knowingly.

"Right. Now I've got to go write my report on the battle."

"I can write it faster than you can!" Skywalker yelled as he rushed by towards his quarters. Kenobi hurried after the other Jedi.

"That is not the point, Anakin. And no, you cannot!" Cody and Rex exchanged a look.

"They're weird." Rex said. "We would never do that." Cody nodded.

"Never."

"By the way…when did you get your report done?"