Hello peoples… this chapter turned out… different than it was going to originally. And I ended up rewriting a lot of stuff. But over all I'm proud of it.

WARNING: this chapter contains SLASH that means BOYxBOY. If this is not to your liking. Please don't waste all of our time telling us this in a flame. No one really cares.

Enjoy :)

Gus was a man who prided himself in strait talk.

He didn't try to dance around the truth, didn't try to sugar coat what he was saying. And he sure as hell didn't have a filter. He said what he thought when he thought it and exactly how he thought it.

"You have twelve hours. A millisecond later and we start blowing brains out." Gus' voice was hard warn and gruff, almost three years of continuous service making him the most experience man in his squad.

And with the way clones where dropping these days, possibly the whole army.

Sketch was dead, Chopper was gone, Punch was dead… Jester was sent back to Kamino that was about as good as dead…

Just him left, good old Gus, sergeants second.

"Trooper, you can't possibly expect-"

"I can and I do. Get to work chancellor…or I assure you the dear senators will be among the first casualties." Gus' voice was almost chastising, and earned him a defiant glare from the chancellor.

Stupid old man.

A cruel smile curled his lips behind his helmet.

"The clock is ticking." Gus hit the transmitter button on the holo projector, effectively cutting off his connection with chancellor Palpatine.

"What'd he say trooper?" Gus turned to face his sergeant, setting quickly into parade rest.

"He's hesitant sir." The smile was slipping into his voice, layering its usual gruffness with an almost ominous lust for revenge. "But I'm sure he'll come around… if not before than after the first shooting."

Fives nodded curtly, deep brown eyes shifting to the back of the transport. "Do you have any idea's as to who should be the first?"

Gus couldn't help the dead chuckle that passed his lips. "Senator Amidala sir." He straitened. "With your permission sir… I'd like very much to be the one to shoot her."

Fives nodded, almost to himself, one hand coming up to cup his chin in thought.

"Any particular reason trooper?" there was no scorn in his voice, he wasn't talking down to him, he was simply… asking.

"She's Skywalkers friend sir." Gus growled out, spitting the word 'Skywalker' as if it put a bad taste in his mouth, the smirk on his face replaced by a snarl.

Fives nodded thoughtfully, eyes shifting to the back of the trans where the aforementioned woman was conversing quietly with the other senators, spirit in her movements as she spoke.

"She does seem to be attempting to provoke the other hostages into action negative to our campaign…"

Gus grunted, big words and fancy terminology, just an ARC trainees way of saying he was above them.

The trooper didn't care about that… his only interest was in paying Skywalker back for what the Jedi and the war had stolen from him.

A life for a life.

"Yes trooper."

Gus snapped his attention back to Fives.

"You may shoot her… but… not right away. The senators shouldn't be the first casualties-" The ARC sergeant nodded thoughtfully, smiling at the other man. "But if and when we need to make a… loader statement…"

Gus grinned, nodding.

A little farther down the trans Kix had set to work with his medical kit once again, patching up the old trans driver wile Pulsar had excused himself to the empty trans car in front of them.

Gus knew why, and it disgusted him.

Crying over a civilian? It wasn't like the man was dead or anything.

But Gus wasn't a man who spent his time trying to figure other guys out. As far as he was concerned it was a waste of time.

It wasn't like he'd been friendly with anyone since Slick's betrayal.

The trooper's lips curled up into a snarl as he took his post near the back of the trans, passing by Kix and the bloody trans driver as he did.

Another thing about Gus was that he didn't take 'brothers' as seriously as other men seemed to. He felt no pull of loyalty to these men who shared his face, no bitter sting when he saw one go down in battle. He hadn't felt pity since Punch's death.

But squad mates where different.

No, Gus didn't feel close to his brothers, he hadn't since Christosis.

Christosis…

It all went back to Christosis.

Or perhaps it went back only as far as returning to the negotiator afterwards.

The battle- and the betrayal- had stung him deeper than what he allowed anyone to see. but what he and his squad had faced in the open barracks of the ship had been nearly as bad.

Rumors spread fast through an army of identical men, especially men with nothing to loose.

Gus wasn't stupid, and he sure as hell wasn't deaf. He'd heard to whispers, the rumors men spoke about him when they thought he couldn't hear.

'Sergeants second'

'Slicks favorite'

'He'd do anything for his sergeant.'

'Next to go.'

'Probably left him orders.'

'Brother fucker'

Gus closed his eyes slowly, oh yes, he remembered that.

It wasn't simply a saying, it wasn't simply a meaningless name they called him when their rumors ran dry.

They meant it literally.

'Brother fucker.'

These rumors light a strange fire in the pit of his stomach, hurt, anger and loose coupling together to make him feel as though he where burning alive.

The worst part of it was… he couldn't deny it.

Because if he did he'd be lying.

And Gus may have been a lot of things… but he was no liar.

'Brother fucker.'

'Clone whore.'

'How'd the traitor feel?'

Gus found it ironic that, if he died on this mission, it would be as both a virgin and a whore.

They hadn't done anything, frek they lived in open barracks when would they have found time or a place to do anything? Their relationship had been… non-physical, excluding a few frantic kisses that ended much to quickly and small, hidden touches that could never have been enough.

It still hurt like hell.

Gus remembered the last time he'd seen his sergeant, bruised and handcuffed, being lead out of lock up by two mongrel guards. (Because no one wanted to risk the traitor corrupting his brethren, and talking them into letting him escape.)

He had screamed at him, he had cried behind his helmet but kept his voice deadly steady, he had yelled and threatened and shook his fist, demanding to know why.

Slick had stared at him strait through the depth of his helmet, his voice calm and those amber eyes dry.

'I did this for you.'

It broke Gus' heart.

But that was okay… He was a trooper… he'd broken everything else at one point, it only seemed natural to have his heart broken at least once.

There had been brothers around him then, brothers who had seen the way his shoulders shook when Slick had said those words, who knew enough to figure out why he had muted his helmet then.

So the rumor mill was born.

And that- that was the true reason he felt no great love for his brothers- they didn't know when enough was enough… If they could see how badly he'd already been beaten- if they could have tried to understand how much it hurt, how much Gus truly wished he could die-

He didn't even know anymore.

Slick, his brother, his sergeant, his lover- was executed for treason before he left Christosis.

No trial was held.

No witnesses where called.

No chance for redemption.

Shot dead without spending a day in prison- their would be no punishment for Slick, only the blissful freedom death had allowed him. His life signed away by the Jedi general's stylus on a data pad.

Hence his hatred for Skywalker.

Gus had known a man who attended the execution- a softhearted normal-born who came to find him after it was said and done.

The man had gripped his shoulder, squeezing it softly and apologizing.

To this day… Gus didn't understand why.

The next day in the showers aboard the negotiator, a trooper, as new and shiny as sunlight, had asked him how the traitor felt.

He then warned him not to drop the soap as he walked away.

He was the first man to say anything to Gus' face.

The next time he saw the shinny had been in the after math of a battle, the young clone had been skewered by a piece of shrapnel, his head lolled to one side and hands hanging limp around the piece of jagged metal that had once been part of a droids lower torso.

Gus had smirked and asked him how the droid had felt, warning him not to drop the motor grease on his way to daryam.

It had been a… turning point for him.

Gus checked his blaster to ensure his cartridge was full, eyes scanning over the hostages before turning to stare out at the far to empty streets and platforms.

For you Slick. If he was going to join his lover… he would at least take the senator with him.

If only to make Skywalker hurt.

Chancellor Palpatine… was not amused. He ground his teeth together in frustration, old jointed fingers flexing for a moment to calm his temper.

Complying with the units was of course, out of the question.

His next best option was to contact the Jedi.

If he played this right he could get them to clean this up for him. Without loosing the publics trust in the clone army.

Today was going to be a very long day.

Daryam= hell.

Normal born/mongrel= referring to a non-clone/civilian.

Hokay… I've actually been updating… you all must love me :D or hate me… depends… :P And I know I promised more Kix in this chapter but he got pushed forward… sorry…

Review please. :)