I awoke in a hospital bed; the bed was comfortable and the room designed for one, I wasn't in a clone hospital then. Glancing around the room quickly told me where I'd been taken, the smooth grey stone and aesthetically pleasing arches around the door and window could only mean one thing, the Jedi Temple. On one side of my bed, now thankfully back in uniform, sat Rex, on the other General Skywalker, both sound asleep. Rex's arm was in a sling and the Jedi's head was bandaged, but apart from that they seemed none the worse for battle royal in the Gamorrean's Tusk. Looking towards the window I saw Ahsoka, her skin returned to its usual orange hue, sitting in the window seat and starring out at the sun rising behind the black silhouettes of Coruscant's skyscrapers.
As if sensing my eyes resting upon her she suddenly looked around and, seeing that I was sitting up shouted joyously "you're awake!" Seeing me wince at the volume of her voice she repeated at a lower decibel level "you're awake". Rushing over she wasted no time in rousing the sleeping pair on either side of me and soon I was surrounded by well wishers.
"How are you feeling captain?"
"Anything I can get you Hawk?"
"Head alright Hawk?"
Feeling slightly put-upon I nodded "I'm fine, I think" glancing across at Rex I asked "anything I should be worried about" indicating my bandaged chest.
The captain shook his head "you were really lucky apparently, nothing worthy of bacta treatment anyway. Just a lot of bruising all round".
"And" Ahsoka said excitedly "you want even have to worry about that for long! My friend Barriss will be along later to give you a force healing, she's really good at those". I smiled, both at the attractive prospects of being free of a feeling of general throbbing pain in my chest and head, and also of seeing the elfin figure of Padawan Offee again, always a pleasure.
Skywalker looked at me seriously "you saved our lives and the mission, you know that don't you Hawk? If you hadn't started that riot the three of us would be dead."
"And you killed Skouras" added Ahsoka "that was an amazing shot by the way!"
I shrugged; for once I had, sort of, legitimately saved the day and yet I didn't feel in the mood for taking the glory. It was probably the combination of exhaustion and a splitting headache. "The trick shot was just a fluke" I said "sheer dumb luck". Clearly none of them believed me. I looked up into the smiling faces of my Jedi commanders and my fellow clone; they thought that I'd acted the way I had out of sheer bravery, rather than perverse cowardice. I'd like to think that somewhere, under all the layers of deceit and spinelessness there's just a drop of courage, of the same kind that the likes of Rex have by the bucket load. Perhaps some part of me chose to hit Bossk out of loyalty to my comrades...but I doubt it.
I was a fraud and a coward, but I was to be praised as a hero. My new found conscience was about to send another wave of guilt my way when suddenly the door hissed open and Barriss Offee walked in. "Now" she said smiling down at me "where does it hurt?"
My shoulder angel vanished just as quickly as he'd come, of course I was a hero! And as a hero I should of course receive the best and most thorough medical care attractive young women could provide. "All over" I said with a contented sigh, lowering my head back onto my pillow.
The End
[Author's Note: Well I hope you enjoyed reading the story, I'm afraid that it didn't turn out quite as well as I hoped. Still it had its moments. Please review! If you would like to hear about Hawk's adventures (or rather misadventures) on Geonosis please read Getting Carried Away by Geonosians]