Hello everyone! I hope you're all doing well. Time to get off of Coruscant!

edeath756 - You'll have to wait and see! If it does happen, it'll be in a good while.

osterreicher97 - If there's a possibility, I will take it.

Star-The-Writer - isn't she always?

Changeling10 - Honestly, the fact you had so much to say made me so happy! You've caught on to a lot of stuff I wanted people to catch on to, and added a few good ideas of your own! I have somewhat considered Palpatine wanting Ahsoka dead, but not that it's personal. Might be a little. And him continuing to try and kill/capture Ahsoka has given me a few ideas for an arc I've been working on. Thanks so much and I hope you enjoy this new chapter!

Mando'a translations at the end. I keep forgetting to add those. Please get on me if I forget!

Rex tried to ignore the connection as he flew. It got easier as the traffic got more chaotic. Rex wasn't too familiar with the undercity, though he realized that was to their advantage. He twisted through the labyrinth of buildings and speeders. The further they got into this mess, the harder it would be for the Guard to find them.

He'd gotten to the point where there were few ships around and the lighting was poor. He had no idea where they were.

Beeping started from the console.

"Kriff." He muttered as he searched for the source of the alarm.

"Kriff what?"

Rex startled at Ahsoka's voice. She had come up behind him and put a hand on his chair.

"We're running out of fuel, sir." Rex told her.

Ahsoka looked down at the console.

"We have enough for another hour, at least." She declared.

She was completely calm now. Her shoulders were relaxed and she was leaning nonchalantly on his chair.

She noticed his stare and raised an eyebrow.

"Rex?"

"That meditation must be some powerful stuff."

She raised an eyebrow.

"The Force is some powerful stuff." She corrected.

"I knew that." He allowed himself a smile. "In any case, an hour isn't much. We'll need to get some more if we're going to make it off planet."

Ahsoka raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have any credits?"
Rex frowned. That was not something he had considered. To the clones, credits were for drinking and little things. Fuel, food, and lodging were never a consideration.

"No." He admitted.

Ahsoka twisted her mouth into a thoughtful shape.

"We could steal some."

"No." Rex shut her down.

"We're already on the run!"

"For a crime you're not guilty of!" He shot back. "If we steal fuel, we'd be guilty of an actual crime. When General Skywalker gets back, I don't want the Republic to have any reason to detain you."

She was touched, but a little frustrated. She had let that much come through.

"All right. We won't steal any. Then what do we do?"

He was ready with that answer.

"We'll talk to Cody when he calls again. In the meantime, we should land and preserve our fuel."

She nodded and pointed out the window.

"See that landing pad? Seems pretty deserted."

Rex immediately turned the ship to the unlit surface.

The ship landed with the sigh of hydraulics that Rex knew so well. Ahsoka walked towards the back of the ship.

"Where are you going?" Rex called.

"To have a look around!" She responded.

Rex pushed himself out of his seat, his shoulder protesting.

"I don't think that's a good idea, sir." He said as he caught up with her.

"Why not?"

Rex swallowed a sigh of exasperation.

"Sir. We are two injured fugitives in an area crawling with bounty hunters!"

Ahsoka crossed her arms.

"How else are we supposed to figure out where we are?"

Rex opened his mouth to respond when his comm chirped.

"It's Cody." Rex assured Ahsoka at her nervous glance.

"Rex here."

It wasn't Cody's voice that crackled out.

"Captain Rex." General Plo Koon said. "I trust things are going well?"

Ahsoka froze. Kriff. Rex had forgotten to tell her the role General Kenobi and Plo had played in her rescue.

"All fine, sir." Rex responded. He conjured up the memory of Cody and Wolffe outside the 501st barracks and Wolffe's words. General Plo and Kenobi sent us. Said to help you break Commander Tano out. He pushed the memory and words into their connection. Ahsoka jerked her head to look at him. The pleasure that his attempt had worked was counteracted by the confusion she sent back.

"Is Ahsoka there?" General Plo asked.

"I'm here." Ahsoka's voice was flat.

There was a silence.

"'Soka."

Ahsoka looked down. Rex got a confused jumble of emotions from her. General Plo's voice was quiet as he continued.

"Forgive me."

There were tears in her eyes.

"The council was wrong. Master Kenobi and I should have fought harder for you."

"You didn't vote to expel me?" Her voice held only a portion of the relief Rex could feel overflowing from her.

"No, little 'Soka. Master Kenobi and I never believed it of you."

Rex removed the comm from his wrist, placed it in Ahsoka's hands, and silently retreated into the back of the ship. This was not a conversation he should be a part of. She had sent him the equivalent of a confused look as he left.

He leaned on the door as he listened to their indistinct voices. She wasn't trying to hide her emotions, whether on purpose or not, he couldn't tell. With an effort, he blocked them off. There was a reason he'd left them alone. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back. His shoulder still ached, but leaning on the other lessened the pain.

"Rex?"

He snapped his head up. Had he dozed off? Kriff, he was far more off-balanced than he thought.

"Cody wants to talk to us. Both of us." Ahsoka's voice sounded rough.

"Yes, sir." Rex scrambled back up to the front. Ahsoka's eyes were a little red. Rex pretended he didn't see.

"I'm here, Cody." Rex said.

"I've got good news." Cody's voice said. "I've pulled a few favors and we've got you a way off planet."

Rex let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, vod."

"I just need your position. My team will be there to help soon."

Rex shared a look with Ahsoka.

"We're, uh, not sure where exactly we are. Our GPS is down. "

Not that it'd been up in the first place.

There was silence on the comm. Rex thought he heard a snicker. Then Cody sighed.

"At least you're still on Coruscant. Give me a minute, I'll trace your comm signal."

"Right."

Rex was glad that it was only Cody, and possibly General Plo, that was on the other end.

"Remind me to never let you lead the way again, Captain." Fives' voice said.

Ahsoka snorted and Rex put a hand on his head.

"How many of you are there?" He asked.

"Oh, I think I'll leave that to your imagination."

"Shut up, Fives!" Cody's voice was suddenly harsh. "Rex, you need to be careful. There's been Pyke activity in that area very recently."

Rex swallowed. That wasn't good news.

"Noted."

He could almost see Cody's disapproving frown.

"Take this seriously, Rex. Is there anything else you need?"

"Credits and fuel. We're short on both." Rex said, then glanced at Ahsoka. "And bacta."

"And food." Ahsoka said with a smile.

"We've already thought of that, especially the bacta. Somebody got themselves shot in the kriffing shoulder. My team's bringing supplies."

Rex felt a weight lift off his shoulders. General Plo's voice rumbled in the background.

"Why did no one inform me Captain Rex was injured?"

"What did we do to deserve you, vod?" Rex said.

"The Commander's saved our lives countless times." Fives said with an air of dismissal. "For you, kriff if I know."

Ahsoka laughed.

"Speaking of which." Fives went on. "Commander, the 501st sends their love, and want to let you know that we were always on your side."

Rex glanced at Ahsoka after the surge of emotion. She was smiling, but there were tears in her eyes again.

"Thank you Fives. Tell them I send my love too, and that they are not to enact any revenge on the Coruscant Guard."

There was silence.

"Yes sir." Fives said dully.

Ahsoka laughed and Rex couldn't help but smile too.

"We need to go." Cody said. "Good luck."

"Thank you, Cody. I'll see you all soon." Ahsoka said.

There was a chorus of goodbyes and the comm clicked off.

"I guess we wait." Ahsoka said, and sat down in the copilot chair. They sat together in silence for a while.

"Can we talk about this?" Rex finally voiced his thoughts and gestured to his head.

Ahsoka froze and a trickle of nervousness came through said bond.

"A force bond connects minds." She said slowly. "You've probably noticed, but we can feel each other's emotions and even thoughts."

"You've been feeling my emotions?" Rex felt foolish to not make that connection. It was obviously two way.

Ahsoka frowned.

"Not really. You've got excellent mental control." She admitted.

That wasn't a surprise to him. He'd been pushing down memories and shoving aside emotions since he was a cadet.

"So, what does this mean? How did it happen?" Rex pressed.

Ahsoka started fiddling with her lekku,

"A Force bond usually happens between two Force users that are very close." Ahsoka said. "Again, usually it's only between a master and student. I have three. Four, now."

She looked up at him.

"Rex, these usually develop in a matter of weeks. It took Master and I months. But you and I formed a bond that's as strong as the others overnight."

Rex furrowed his brow. Somehow he thought the higher ups would not be happy to hear of a clone and Jedi having such a strong bond.

Ahsoka snapped her head to the side.

"Someone's coming." She said.

Rex felt a flash of panic; whether it was his own or Ahsoka's, he didn't know. Rex rushed to the view. A troop of the scrawny Pykes were slipping out of the shadows, surrounding Rex and Ahsoka's vessel. They were armed.

Ahsoka let out a string of swearing more colorful than the combined paint jobs of the GAR.

Rex ran through their options.

They couldn't just fly off. It would provoke the Pykes to attack. This ship was old and definitely couldn't handle much blaster fire. Fighting was an option, but Rex could already count over a dozen just from his viewpoint. He and Ahsoka were both injured with one blaster between them.

Ahsoka looked at Rex.

"What's the plan?" She asked.

Plan? Plan? He took a deep breath.

"We can't surrender." Rex said in a low voice. "They'll find out who we are and turn us over to the Republic."

"We don't even know what they want." Ahsoka said.

Rex paused.

"I'll go out. See if I can't get us away." He said.

"If it goes wrong, we'll have to fight our way out."

"I'll be fighting our way out." Rex corrected.

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes.

"You, by yourself, are going to face off an entire group of Pykes."

Rex grit his teeth. He had not risked his brothers and ruined his own life to lose his Jedi to her own stubbornness.

"Listen. Your face has been broadcasted everywhere for the last few days. They will know who you are the second you step out of this ship." Rex had to try very hard to pretend he was talking to a petulant shiny in order to get the words out. "They'll take you and keep you until the Republic pays the right price. Then you'll be where we found you yesterday!"

Rex thought the only reason he was getting this far was because of the shock Ahsoka was radiating.

"I'm going to go out there and hold them off until Cody's friends can get here." Rex went on before she recovered. "If I go down, hide. They might assume I was by myself."

"Are you giving me orders, Captain?" She snapped.

Rex's frustration forced a smirk out of him.

"Like you said, I've deserted. We're equal."

She squared her shoulders.

"Rex, they'll be looking for you too, and you stand out a lot for a clone. Your bounty will be just as high as mine."

"With all due respect sir, my life is far less important than yours."

Ahsoka's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to argue with him.

"I'm a dead man anyway, Commander." Rex cut her off. "It's the best chance we've got."

Ahsoka's jaw was set and her eyes were hard.

"Fine." She snarled. "But I will back you up. You're not dying today. You need to explain what that little comment about being a dead man means first."

Rex held back a relieved sigh.

"Right, sir."

He shoved on his bucket and grabbed the blaster. Ahsoka watched him as he hurried past. The door creaked open and Rex found himself facing a swarm of small faced ge'hutuun.

"At last!" Their leader said. "Welcome friend-"

He paused as he recognized Rex as a clone. Rex raised his hands up slowly.

"I think there's been a mistake." Rex said.

He scanned the area and quickly counted the Pykes. Over two dozen hostiles, all armed. They had brought a case with them. Spice, most likely. This must be a regular dealing spot for them.

"I lost my way and was running low on fuel." Most of the truth would have to do. "I just landed to get my bearings. I didn't mean to get in your way."

Some of the guards were already raising their blasters. Their leader raised a hand.

"Normally we don't deal with clones." He said in his tinny voice. "But you seem a-reasonable sort."

Rex's desperation must have come across.

"I'm sure we could come to an agreement." The leader went on.

Rex nodded. Another Pyke edged up to the leader and muttered something. The leader looked at Rex, eyes suddenly glittering. Rex didn't need Ahsoka's mental shout to know that they knew.

"You said you were low on fuel, friend?" He purred. "It's a long way from the GAR prisons, isn't it?"

He was interrupted by Rex's blaster bolt punching a hole through his tiny mug.

Immediately Rex ducked the several lasers thrown his way. He took out another Pyke in two shots. Two down, two dozen to go. He set his jaw and jumped off the ramp, shooting rapidly into the crowd. He heard a few more bodies drop as he scrambled under the ramp. It wouldn't be good cover for long. He shot at the first Pyke to round the corner and it crumpled. Two more took its place. Rex shot behind him as he darted from under the ramp and dashed across the landing pad. He dodged between blaster bolts and dove behind a pile of crates. He let himself take one breath before he shoved himself up to shoot over the top. He had only downed half a dozen. There were still at least ten, and one was speaking into a comm. Calling for back up.

They were closing in. Suddenly a force blindsided Rex. One of them had kriffing tackled him. He bit back a cry as he hit the ground on his bad shoulder. The Pyke grappled with him for a moment. Rex was surprised to feel his helmet being yanked free.

"It's him!" The Pyke screamed.

Rex twisted around and shot the offending Pyke. The others had gotten closer.

And then Ahsoka was there. The Pykes whirled around to see her standing at the top of the ramp. She stood tall, illuminated by the ship's lights. Rex blinked. He could swear there was something surrounding her, wreathing around her body. She lifted a hand and Rex could feel the push, though it didn't touch him. Many of the remaining Pykes were launched through the air. Several fell over the edge of the platform and the others slammed into the wall. The very few left were backing up.

Then, to Rex's horror, Ahsoka collapsed.

A flash of intense pain flooded over him.

"Ahsoka!" He roared and made a run for her. He stopped short when a dozen more Pykes stormed from the alleyway. He was in the middle of the platform, no cover. His Commander was on the ground, not moving. Was he going to lose her to this?

A rain of blaster fire thundered from above. Most of the Pykes dropped. Rex whirled around to see four figures land, having jumped from one of the buildings above. Were they clones? Their armor was definitely similar, and two of them were the right height, but one other seemed a few inches short while another was the size of a Lasat.

"Crosshair." one said, nodding at the retreating Pykes.

"On it." The skinniest of them ran past Rex to the alley.

By their voices, he knew they were clones. Normally Rex would have been elated to receive the backup, but now dread coursed through him. The apparent leader turned, making as if to go to Ahsoka. Rex raised his blaster.

"Stay away from her." He snarled.

"Stand down, Captain." The clone said. He lifted his helmet off, revealing a tattooed face with hair that was surely not regulation. "Didn't Cody say we were coming?"

Cody's team. Rex couldn't quite let the tension leave his shoulders. His eyes flicked to the Commander. He made a split second decision. He would have to trust Cody on this.

Without a word he rushed to his Commander's side.

She was awake. He knelt down next to her.

"Rex." She said as he leaned over her. Her voice was tight with pain. He fitted an arm under her head.

"Commander." He said. "Can you stand?"

She gave a tiny shake of her head.

It was the Force.

Her voice echoed in his mind

I tried to use it and it overwhelmed me.

"Was it the drug?" He asked.

I think so. Behind you.

Rex glanced back. The leader of Cody's team had approached.

"I'm Hunter." The clone said. "We're special forces, Clone Force 99."

"The Bad Batch!" The big clone shouted.

"That's Wrecker and Tech." Hunter said with a gesture. "Crosshair is taking care of the stragglers."

Rex nodded.

"Rex." He said. "Though I'm sure Cody already told you."

"He did." Hunter said. He glanced down at Ahsoka, who had closed her eyes.

"Is she okay?" He asked.

I'm fine. Just need some rest, I think.

"She needs rest." Rex repeated.

"We don't have much time for that; we have to get you off planet." Hunter said.

"Then I better get her in the ship then." Rex said. "Give her as much time as we can."

Hunter frowned but reached forward.

"Let me-"

"No." Rex cut across the offer.

He ignored the screaming of his shoulder and lifted Ahsoka. He hated how limp she was. It reminded him too strongly of brothers he had held on the battlefield. He carried her past Hunter and up into the ship.

I'm starting to get sick of not being able to move properly. Ahsoka's voice said in his mind.

He snorted.

"You're alive." He told her. "That's what I care about."

You're not the one who can't move.

He set her down on the bunk. Rex realized Hunter and Tech had followed him.

"Cody said you had bacta." Rex said.

"Yes." Tech said. His voice was stiff and clipped. "Commander Cody informed us of your incident."

It was clear the oddly short clone thought he was a di'kut for getting hurt. Rex was inclined to agree.

"It's not me." Rex said. "Commander, may I?"

Go for it.

He took her arm and unwrapped the bandages.

It looked worse than before and Rex swallowed panic.

Hunter had caught his breath.

"Do not let Wrecker see that." He muttered.

Tech seemed unperturbed.

"Commander Cody mentioned that she was drugged. That is the injection point?"

Rex nodded.

"Fascinating." Tech began rummaging through a pack. "I will need a urine sample."

"What?" Rex's voice was echoed by Ahsoka's croak.

"Tech." Hunter said. "No."

Tech looked up.

"We need to do research on the drug." He said simply. "I assumed she would not want her blood drawn so-"

"Just take my blood." Ahsoka muttered.

"But-"

"Do it, Tech." Hunter sounded tired.

After Tech had gotten a blood sample, during which Ahsoka had tried and failed to keep her panic from Rex, he applied bacta.

"Just give me the patches." Rex told Tech as the clone turned to him. "I'll put them on later."

Tech frowned.

"You will need to apply them now." He said. "You will not have a chance later."

"What do you mean?" Rex said, narrowing his eyes.

Hunter laughed and clapped a hand on Rex's shoulder.

"You'll see."

I adore the Batch, clearly as I've introduced them in both my fics. I'm also a firm believer that Obi Wan and Plo were against the whole thing the whole time, based on Yoda saying that 'the council is not agreed.' And the fact that Ahsoka and Plo never got a moment alone together BREAKS MY HEART. In case you're wondering, Rex and Ahsoka accidentally stumbled on a platform that usually was only used for drug deals. The Pykes were expecting a customer, but they actually were arrested before they got there.

Mandoa'a:

vod: brother/sister

ge'hutuun: basically any criminal, abusive

di'kut: idiot

Anyway, wear your masks (though hopefully soon I won't have to say that), remember to review, and have a great two weeks!