Death's Choice

By Ammie Hawk

Disclaimer: Still don't own this shit, though I feel like the clones now own me.

AN: There is no excuse for this chapter taking as long as it did, except that I got pissed at these fucking clones decided to hijack my fic yet again. Also, there was an anime con that I went to that was too much fun and a major distraction. Anyway, moving on to the reason the clones are all here… I mean you are all here.

Chapter 20: Frustrations

Rex heaved an inaudible sigh as he stood next to Kote in the communication hub of Tipoca City, trying, once again, to contact the Temple and speak to their son. It had been a month since they had returned to Kamino, and they hadn't been able to speak to him at all. Oh, they had gotten through to the Temple, but it didn't matter what time they called, day or night, Harry was always in the middle of something and unavailable to talk. But they had to keep trying.

Life on Kamino had settled back into a semblance of normal. There was still training and other sorts of drills and things. The process of removing the chips from everyone was an unfortunately slow process.

There were only so many available to actually perform the surgeries, as well as recovery time, which varied from a day to a week, depending on the individual. And then there was the fact that they had to maintain an optimal fighting force to fight in the numerous battles taking place across the galaxy. So, they had prioritized the Alphas and Command Class, so at least their leadership would not be compromised. But at least they had a plan, and no matter how long it took, they would see it through.

On the other hand, they still hadn't figured out the encryptions on the chips. Skirata was still working on it, as well as some of the most technically minded among them, including an enhanced clone they had discovered, courtesy of a vod called Omega, named Tech. Hopefully, they could figure it out soon, as well as a way to disable them, since the surgeries were taking so long.

Things between him and Kote had leveled out to almost normal. He was no longer outright avoiding the brunet, but he did find himself scrutinizing every one of their interactions. The overall stress of it all was making him very, very tense.

The only time he found he could truly relax was when he was with Kom'rk and the other Nulls. Since Kom'rk had adopted him, the others had taken him in as one of their own. Not as a son, but he also now found himself with five overbearing and overprotective uncles and an overexcited grandfather. He could see why Harry basked in all the attention he received from the Vod'e. It was rather intoxicating.

He was brought back to the matter at hand as the comm finally connected. He straightened to almost full attention as the figure of the bald Jedi, Master Windu if he remembered correctly, appeared. He wasn't one of the usual Jedi they talked to in their attempts to contact their son.

"Master Windu," Kote greeted stoically.

"Commander," the dark-skinned male nodded at both of them, even if he hadn't addressed Rex personally.

"We want to talk to our son," the blond cut in before the man could forestall them again.

"Apologies," Windu's gaze shifted to focus his full attention on him, "I don't believe I caught your name, soldier."

"I didn't give it and you're not getting it," Rex crossed his arms stubbornly over his chest. "Now let us talk to Harry."

"I can't," the Jedi reached up and rubbed his temples tiredly. "Initiate Harry is currently attending his saber class, in which he is doing quite well. In fact, he is doing well in all his lessons. He is advanced for his age in many subjects and has finally caught up with his peers in the rest."

The two troopers shared a look out of the corner of their eyes. That was more than they had received so far. They usually spoke with a Master Ki-Adi-Mundi or Master Yoda and all they would tell them was that their son was busy.

"While we appreciate the update," the corners of the brunet's mouth turned down in a frown, "we would like to speak to our son now."

"Unfortunately, that is not possible," the bald male sighed heavily. "By a majority vote of the Council," by the hard look in his eye and the apologetic tilt to his head they could tell he was not in that majority, "it has been deemed in his best interest that he not be allowed contact with you."

"In his best interest?" Kote's scowl deepened. "Was he given a choice in this?"

"He is a youngling in our care," Windu shook his head. "The Council's word is final. It would be best if you did not contact us on this matter again. We will call you."

With that the transmission ended. Rex let out a growl of frustration as he turned to his companion. Before he could say a word, however, Kote held up his hand to silence him.

"I know, Rex," the Commander let out a sharp breath. "I don't like it either, but we can't just launch an attack on the Jedi Temple."

"Why not?" the blond countered. "What happened to ripping the galaxy apart for our son?"

"Oh, I'd be more than happy to," Kote shook his head. "But I will not recklessly march on the Jedi Temple. That's suicide. Taking control of Kamino was one thing, but if we take this step we have to be smart about it. Now, Fox is taking a contingent of mainly unchipped troopers to Coruscant within the next week to set up the 'Coruscant Guard.' They are going to be our eyes and ears within the Senate. From there, we can get further intel on the Temple and go from there. Can you at least be patient until then?"

"Fine," Rex turned away with a scowl.

He hated it when people, especially Kote, used logic against him. The brunet's hand landed on his shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze, which he forced himself not to lean into. The interaction was interrupted, however, by the clearing of a throat. They both turned to find Prime leaning casually against the doorframe.

"Planning to go after the Jedi, are you?" a dark brow rose curiously. "Can't say I disapprove. I did warn you about them after all. But Kote's right, you can't go into this half cocked like you did with the Kaminoans. It's not easy to sneak up on a lone Jedi, much less in their own home. It'll take careful planning. And I think you could both use a new kit."

With that, the older male turned and made his way out of the room, motioning for the pair to follow. They shared a look before the brunet shrugged and they fell into step behind the bounty hunter. The three of them walked in silence until they finally reached Prime's living quarters.

As soon as the door closed behind them, a small figure darted around the corner and made a beeline for the trio. Rex stared in mild confusion as his brain slowly processed what he was seeing. There was a cadet in Prime's quarters. They looked older than Harry, but not quite as old as Boba, if he had to guess. But that wasn't the most surprising thing. No, the thing he found most shocking was that their hair was the same golden hue as his own. It was longer than his, down to their ears as far as he could tell and slicked back to be completely off their face.

"Kote!" a rather high-pitched voice exclaimed excitedly, as they launched themselves at the younger brunet. "You came to see me!"

"Of course, I did," the CC chuckled. "I always make time for my favorite little sister."

"I'm your only sister," familiar brown eyes rolled in mock annoyance.

"Do you think that makes you any less my favorite?" a dark brow rose in challenge.

"No," she giggled.

It felt like his brain had short circuited. There was a female clone! A female! How the hell has she managed to survive? Defects, even ones as minor as hair color, were typically decommissioned. He had been an exception. But this… this was not a minor defect. How has she managed to escape that fate?

"Who's that?" the little blonde head cocked to the side as her eyes landed on him.

"That is one of your erstwhile brothers, Rex," Prime knelt down so he was on her level. "He's mad at me, so he doesn't come around like Kote does. Now, are you done with your lessons?"

"Not yet," she pouted.

"Well, I have to talk with your brothers," the older male reached up and squeezed her shoulder. "Why don't you finish up while I do that, then I'll take you down to the training room and we'll work on your hand to hand before late-meal, okay?"

"Okay, dad," she beamed before scampering off the way she had come.

Once she was out of sight, the bounty hunter pushed to his feet and motioned for the other two to follow him further into the apartment. Rex moved on autopilot as he tried to comprehend what was going on. As they entered a large storage room off the hall, he finally managed to organize his thoughts into some semblance of coherency.

"What…?" he shook his head. "Who…?"

So maybe his thoughts weren't as coherent as he thought.

"That's Omega," Prime snorted, obviously able to follow his muddled thoughts. "She's your sister. Apparently, Nala Se was in breach of contract when she created Omega, and according to my contract, that makes her mine. So yeah, your sister. And you would know all this if you had actually accepted any of the invitations I've given you. But that is not why I brought you here."

"You mentioned new kits," Kote went along with the change in topic.

"I did," the older male nodded as he indicated two storage crates at his feet. "I had these commissioned for the two of you as soon as I returned from Geonosis."

Rex and Kote shared a look before stepping forward. The bounty hunter moved to the side, radiating a sense of smug satisfaction that perfectly embodied the phrase the tooka that got the cream. Choosing to ignore the older male for now, the pair reached out in tandem, and each opened one of the crates. Their eyes widened in shock as the contents were finally revealed.

"We can't accept this," Kote's gaze shot up to their progenitor.

"You are my sons," Prime crossed his arms over his chest. "You deserve it."

"Just because you adopted us does not mean you can just give us beskar," the blond shook his head.

"Actually, as your parent and guardian, it is my responsibility to outfit you with your armor," the bounty hunter countered. "Besides, you have both more than earned it. Kote, you planned and executed a successful takeover of an entire planet, with no losses on your side, I might add. And you, Rex, have not only overcome unfair adversity your entire life, but also took in, protected, and hid a youngling who basically fell into your lap. And don't get me started about Geonosis."

"I didn't do anything on Geonosis," he scoffed. "I just fell out of a transport."

"And from there protected a high priority non-combatant," a dark brow rose in challenge. "And upon rejoining the battle, made a correct call with information that you had that others didn't. Trust me, Commander Grey was very thorough in his report, if not a bit unflattering. So, yes, Rex, you deserve it just as much as Kote does."

"He's right, Rex," the younger brunet shook his head. "Just stop whining and accept it."

"I'm not whining," Rex growled petulantly. "And I didn't say I wasn't going to accept it."

"Enough," Prime cut in. "It's yours and that's all there is to it. Now, I know the measurements are right, but you're going to want to try it on, get used to the weight. Plastoid has nothing on beskar after all."

Without further protests, the pair reached into the crates and began reverently pulling out the armor, piece by piece. Once everything was unpacked, they removed their current kits and began putting it on.

"As you'll notice," the older male said, "the design is very similar to your current armor, though there are fewer pieces. Now, you can augment it with the plastoid, but you don't have to. Though, I do recommend you do that when dealing with any Republic officials, you don't want to stand out too much."

"Of course," Kote nodded in understanding. "Thank you, Prime."

"You're welcome," Prime shook his head. "And would it kill you to call me dad?"

"Yes," the blond immediately shot back. "Just because you adopted us doesn't mean you've earned that right."

"Rex," the Commander sighed heavily.

"It's okay, Kote," the bounty hunter placed a hand on the other's shoulder. "You're right, Rex. I haven't earned that with you yet. Not that you've given me the chance to, but that's neither here nor there. Consider the armor a first step. Now, I have a promise to keep, and I'm sure you two have places to be. You are both invited to late-meal, and afterwards, we can get some paint on that armor if you like."

"Sounds good… dad," Kote agreed, taking hold of Rex's arm, and leading him toward the exit.

Prime left them in the hallway as he made his way further into the apartment, presumably to wherever Omega was. With that obviously clear dismissal, the pair took their leave.

As they made their way down the hall, those they passed stopped and stared at them. No one dared to stop them, however, and Rex wasn't sure if it was the intimidation factor of the unpainted beskar they now wore, the fact he was with Kote, which sent shinies running on a good day, or sheer surprise. He was leaning toward the last one, though, when whistles and catcalls started following in their wake.

Without really discussing it, the pair made their way to the barracks. He wasn't sure what Kote's plans were, but he planned to get out of his armor and head off to find the Nulls, who had not only been spending time with him but had been training him in various skills as well.

As they rounded the corner where they would normally split up to go their separate ways, they were stopped by a lone figure. Rex managed to keep his expression neutral as he nodded in greeting to the newcomer. While he had been spending quite a bit of time with the Nulls, none of them had shared what exactly was going on. It had actually been A'den's idea that they keep the true nature of what was going on to themselves and see how long it would take for everyone else to figure it out.

"Damn, Rex," Kom'rk whistled softly, "that's some outfit you got there. Where'd you get the new digs?"

"Prime," the blond rolled his eyes.

"He trying to buy you off now?" a dark brow quirked curiously.

"Something like that," he shrugged.

"It looks good," the Null gave him an appraising once over. "Though it's a bit… shiny. We should probably see about scuffing it up a bit. Come on, the others are waiting. They're gonna get a kick out of this.

"If you say so," Rex shook his head.

Kom'rk just laughed as he draped his arm over the younger male's shoulders and led him away.

888888

A scowl marred Kote's features as the blond allowed himself to be led away. He didn't understand why Rex kept running off with the Nulls. The Nulls didn't like being around any of the standard troopers. It made him wonder what exactly they were using him for. And just what they had on the younger male to make him complicit.

Unfortunately, he couldn't look into it now. He had deployment plans and battle reports to go over before late-meal. He really hated the fact that he had been press ganged into being in charge of the military, as it cut into his own training and the limited free time he had before was practically nonexistent now. Though, it did keep him from being in charge of the whole planet, so there was that.

With a quiet groan of frustration at his current plight, he made his way to his locker to stash his new armor. He had just started removing the various pieces when he heard others enter the room.

"I'm telling you, Wolffe," it was Fox who spoke, "that was Rex. I don't know where he got the armor, but damn. Whoa, Kote!" he had obviously caught their attention. "Who'd you knock off for this?"

The pair made their way over and were now flanking him on either side. Fox reached out and rapped his knuckles on the beskar chest plate. Wolffe let out an appreciative whistle as his eyes raked over the shiny metal.

"You know, Wolffe," a gleam entered Fox's eyes, "I don't usually go for Kote, he's a bit too full of himself for my tastes, but this armor's really doing it for me. What do you say, Kote? Wanna go a couple rounds?"

"Get karked, Fox," the Commander growled.

"That's the idea, Kote," a lecherous grin crossed the other's face. "I'll even let you keep the armor on."

"Not happening, Fox," he said through gritted teeth.

"You're no fun," Fox scoffed. "Maybe I should go find Rex, once the Nulls are done with him that is. I don't normally do sloppy seconds, but I think I can make an exception this time."

A low, almost feral growl left Kote's throat as he rounded on the other. Almost of its own volition his hand rose and wrapped around Fox's neck, and he slammed him against the lockers.

"You won't touch Rex," he snarled. "And he's not with the Nulls!"

"Enough, Kote," Wolffe snapped, grabbing his wrist, and hitting a pressure point so his grip slackened on the other. "Who Rex fucks is none of your business. You refuse to stake a claim. And unless you do, he could fuck his way through the entirety of the GAR and half the galaxy, and it still wouldn't be any of your goddamn business."

With a final scoff, the other two CCs headed back the way they had come. Kote watched them go with narrowed eyes. When he was sure they were fully out of range, he whirled around and slammed his fist into the wall in front of him.

Those two assholes were right, damnit! It was none of his business what Rex did or who he chose to spend his time with. He didn't control the blond, and he didn't want to either. Rex was his own person, with his own thoughts and opinions, and that's what made him so goddamn special. He would never dream of taking that away from him.

But the thought of him being with someone else made his blood boil. Though, if it made the other happy, what right did he have to deny that? That's right, he didn't and that was unlikely to ever change.

Goddamn it! He needed to punch something other than the wall. Screw the paperwork, he was going to the training rooms to take out his frustrations on some training droids, and maybe an Alpha or two.

Ammie: So, yeah, the clones hijacked this chapter. This chapter was supposed to focus on Harry at the Temple so I can move on and get him back to his dads, but nooo... they wanted to procrastinate that. Anyway, on that note, nothing in this chapter was unplanned, I just hadn't decided where it would all fit. So, here it is.

On another note, as I'm watching through the Clone Wars, I have narrowed down Kote's death to either Ryloth or the second battle of Geonosis, so opinions on that are welcome.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings, please let me know what you think.