General Skywalker climbed off the wing of his ship, bouncing a little as he hit the ground. Even now, after having been out almost all night, the general was full of energy. The ship behind him, however, was covered in dust, and the tinny sound of several screws hitting the ground echoed through the hangar. The wing General Skywalker had just climbed off bent precariously.
"How long do you reckon it'll be?" Rex asked Cody, who stood next to him. They both stared at General Skywalker from where they stood under the wing of another ship, discreetly out of the way.
"I give it at least two minutes," replied Cody. "He made enough noise coming in."
"Done."
A door opened on the other side of the hangar.
"Oh, here we go," muttered Cody.
They watched General Kenobi stalk over to his old padawan, gait dangerous and gaze deadly, not even hesitating when the ship with its bent wing came into view. He stopped in front of General Skywalker and crossed his arms.
Rex held out his hand and Cody passed him ten credits. Rex tucked them away inside his suit, took a long sip of caf through the straw he had confiscated from his men, and leaned back to watch.
"What were you thinking?" hissed General Kenobi.
The clone captain and the clone commander shuffled back a little, careful to make no noise and draw no attention to themselves.
"Uh," said General Skywalker. "What was I thinking about what, master?"
Rex could see General Kenobi begin mouthing something silently to himself, but General Skywalker did not seem to notice.
"Don't play the fool with me. Where were you?"
"Well, you know, Ahsoka -"
"Don't pin this on her."
"Rex -"
Rex cringed back against the ship, trying to shrink as much as he could. Technically speaking, he might have known General Skywalker intended on leaving for a short time, and if one wanted to be really technical, Rex may have redirected some unwanted attention at crucial points in that very leaving.
"Don't pin this on him either."
"I didn't -"
Rex realised General Kenobi's silent words were a litany of 'release it to the force'.
"Didn't what. Didn't think? Didn't tell anyone you were leaving?"
"People knew," said General Skywalker defensively before he snapped his mouth shut. Rex winced. Sometimes his general did not help himself.
'Release it to the force.'
"Besides," continued General Skywalker, "I had it all under control."
'Release it to the force. Release it to the force.'
"And I brought you some breakfast?" finished General Skywalker, holding out a brown paper bag. The bottom corner was stained and dripping a thick brown liquid onto the floor of the hangar.
'Release it -'
Rex could see the exact moment General Kenobi's control snapped.
"Anakin," the older general said, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, "you stUPID FUCK!" General Kenobi tore the lightsaber of his own belt and threw it to the side. Cody reached forward and caught it before moving quickly backwards. General Kenobi's cloak fell from his shoulders into a heap on the ground. "I AM GOING TO KILL YOU WITH MY BARE HANDS!"
General Skywalker took off running and General Kenobi was close behind.
Rex took a long sip.
"Think we should stop them?" he asked Cody. It was his general after all who was currently being hunted for sport. And while General Skywalker might deserve the vicious attention on this single occasion - as well as probably many others - Rex did not particularly enjoy having to untie him as he swung from the ceiling by his ankles.
"Give them a couple of minutes," replied Cody shrugging. "General Kenobi's been under a lot of stress recently."
They ambled off at a casual pace after their generals, following the high-pitch screaming they could hear slowly getting further away down one of the hallways.
As they rounded a corner, they saw General Kenobi launch himself at General Skywalker in a flying tackle, taking both of them to the ground. He clambered on top of the other general, grabbing his cloak around the neck and starting to shake his former padawan, yelling all the while.
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"
"Uh," Five came up beside Rex, "what are the generals doing, sir? Sirs?"
Rex slurped the last of his caf from the cup, staring at the vision before them. The sucking noise could barely be heard over the yelling.
"- LEAVING THE BASE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT -"
"Sparring," said Rex. "I hear it's what the jetti do to relieve stress."
"- NO NOTE, NO COMMS -"
General Skywalker managed to wiggle his way out of General Kenobi's hold, flip his old master onto his back, get to his feet and start running. General Kenobi, now lying on his back, grabbed General Skywalker's left boot around the ankle and pulled him back to the ground. A thud echoed through the hallway and the clones collectively winced.
"That's got to hurt," said Fives.
Rex hummed. General Skywalker had landed on his mechanic arm more than anything, he would not be too injured.
"Ten credits on General Kenobi," said Fives lightly.
"Gambling on base is illegal," said Cody. Rex hummed again, this time in agreement.
Doors opened along the hallway.
"- SHIP GONE -"
Dogma joined them, frowning.
"Should we - is this something we should be stopping, sir?"
"He hasn't hit him properly yet," said Cody. "They'll be fine for a few more minutes."
"Right, sir."
Rex realised more and more of the men were beginning to enter the hallway, clearly drawn by the noise.
"- AHSOKA WAS WORRIED, YOU -"
General Kenobi had managed to wrangle his way back to sitting on top of General Skywalker.
"Is he talking about me?"
Rex turned to find Ahsoka standing beside him.
"Looks like it."
"Obi-Wan does know I helped Anakin leave, right?"
Rex smiled slightly. It seems he was not the only one involved that was currently watching a punishment be bestowed upon another. But Rex found he did not feel too bad about it.
"Think we should intervene?" asked Ahsoka.
"Not yet, Commander," said Cody. "General Kenobi will stop him from getting too hurt. According to Kix, the paperwork for head injuries is a nightmare."
Cheering came from a group of men from the 501st standing on the sideline as General Skywalker managed to get a hand in between them and drag General Kenobi off him by the back of his shirt.
Rex cleared his throat.
"Fives, clear away the men, they don't need to be watching this."
Fives stared at the scene in front of them, looking seconds from joining in the cheering.
"Fives."
"Yes sir."
Within seconds there were no other clones in sight.
Rex, Cody, and Ahsoka watched as General Kenobi grabbed a handful of General Skywalker's hair.
"Twenty on Obi-Wan," said Ahsoka.
General Skywalker kneed General Kenobi in the stomach in retaliation.
"Done," said Rex.
"Should I start a timer?"
Cody grinned.
"Go on then."
—
It was another four minutes before Cody and Rex dragged their generals off each other. It was another forty before Kix stopped shouting at them all.