Barriss was vague about the circumstances of her capture to begin with. She wasn't sure if this was some elaborate trap in order to get more information out of her or if he was just another prisoner like her. Why was a clone imprisoned here? In fact, why was a clone imprisoned at all? From what she knew of the Grand Army of the Republic, discharged clones were sent back to Kamino for processing and more often than not, termination. So why was he here?

There were many questions that one wanted to ask the other, but for a long time, neither were willing to make the effort to ask out of fear. Fear of giving away too much, fear of appearing vulnerable.

Fear.

Fear was a dangerous tool in the hands of someone who knew how to use it, even more dangerous in the hands of someone who didn't. Barriss Offee didn't know what to do with her fear, it plagued her mind like a parasite, evolving into anxieties and paranoia. Her Jedi training could only take her so far, night after night, she meditated, tried to get a hold of her emotions, but a month into her incarceration, she finally gave in.

Slick woke from his slumber to the quiet sounds of sobbing. He sat up, rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger, looked over to the opposite cell to see Barriss curled up on her bed facing the wall, trying to keep her cries to herself. He knew there wasn't much he could say to make things better, he wasn't even sure why he wanted to, he just knew that he hated to see her upset. After all, she was barely an adult, by the look of her, she might not even be that.

"Alright, kid. Talk to me." He said bluntly. Unfortunately, she didn't respond, her cries only silenced, but he could still see her in tears.

"Ignoring me isn't gonna make whatever you're feeling go away. It's just us here, you might as well tell me what's wrong. It's not like I have anywhere else to be." He tried to reason with her.

Barriss sniffed deeply through her nostrils before swallowing what little saliva had built up in her mouth. "Where do I even start?" She asked aloud, turning slightly to now look up at the ceiling rather than the wall.

"How about the first thing that comes to mind?" Slick suggested.

"Why are we here?" She quickly asked, catching the former Sergeant off guard.

Slick widened his eyes at this, he wasn't surprised that a Jedi of all people was asking something to philosophical, he was surprised however, at the fact that she was asking. He thought the Jedi had all the answers, or at least they thought they did. "I don't think I'm the sort of person to answer that kind of question, kid. I mean, what is the purpose of existence? A life that's full of war? Why are we here?"

Barriss finally tuned to look the clone in the eye, seconds of silence followed before she finally spoke. "No, I mean, why are we here? In prison? Obviously, I know why we're in prison, but why haven't we been simply executed?" She wondered.

Slick let out a slight chuckle. "Are you complaining?" He returned rhetorically.

She let out a defeated huff, as if trying to laugh but couldn't. "I guess not… Still, I want to know why. What purpose does it serve keeping us in this particular part of the prison?"

Slick raised an eyebrow and leant forward, resting one arm on his knees. "Well, you're a Jedi. They're not gonna put you somewhere where you can literally throw people about like ragdolls with your mind."

Barriss looked back at the clone, clearly offended. "I would never!" She stood up.

This time, Slick didn't look her in the eye. He knew what he wanted to say, but he was too afraid to see the reaction on her face. He wanted to make a comment about what she had done to be put here in the first place, but elected not to. What would be the point? It would only do more harm than good. Instead he responded. "I really don't know, kid. Maybe they're worried about you using the force out there, maybe they're worried that the clone guards will give me special treatment? Who knows?"

"Do they?" She asked as she sat back down, sounding genuinely curious.

Slick coughed a little to clear his throat before turning back to face her, this time, matching her eye level completely. He raised his arm towards the cell wing exit, where a lone Coruscant guard was standing watch. "Them? They avoid me like the kriffing plague! Like I'm diseased, untouchable, not even human. They don't even use my name, they use my birth number. I may not have chosen my name at first, but it was mine… After what the likes of us have done… I don't blame them."

Barriss didn't want to think about her last right now, instead, she asked about his. "…How'd you get the name Slick?"

The question surprised him more than it should have, it was topical, it was relevant, but no one had ever really asked that before. "Back on Kamino, we all sought to have names. We were assigned to teams with four other clones, they were supposed to be our squad mates for the rest of the war. Whatever battalion we were assigned to, we would be assigned together. Me and my brothers, we all wanted names because it made us feel more like a family than a squad. There was Spider, Tiptoe, Temper and Mustard." He trailed off.

"Mustard?" The young girl almost snickered.

For the first time in months, he smiled. "Hah, yeah. He managed to spill Corellian mustard on his armour and the stains never came out. Pretty sure they changed the supplier after that incident, didn't want anymore stains, I guess. We don't all have the luxury of choosing our names, but it takes even more to own it, to make it your own. Mus knew that better than anyone."

The former Sergeant broke out of his daze to see Barriss smiling at him, she was visibly better than she was a few moments ago. It was clear that his stories were keeping her mind off of things, and if he was being honest with himself, he liked to reminisce on the good old days with the boys. He wasn't sure why he cared, but it made him feel good to make her feel better, he knew he would have to continue.

"Ah, right. Where was I? Oh yeah! My name… Before I was a Sergeant for the 212th, I was one of the weapon specialists. I know every blaster inside and out, I don't like to brag, but I can disassemble and reassemble a DC-17 in a matter of seconds. The boys called be Slick for a couple reasons, one was how fast and fluid I made the process seem, the other was for how well I could play sabaac." He smirked.

"I've… never played. Back in the temple, gambling was forbidden, as were a lot of things…" She looked like she wanted to say more, but chose not to.

Slick could see that she was uncomfortable thinking about her old life, so he tried to distract her once more. "Well, maybe one day, I can teach you?" He said enthusiastically.

Her head jolted up to meet his eyes once more and she gave him a small smile. "I'd like that."

The smile didn't last long as she showed a look of shame and began to speak. "The battle of Umbara… Me and… Ahsoka, we led a squad of fighters to break the blockade. I didn't realise until you named him, but I think I served with Tiptoe? Did he have a tattoo of a line going down from his left eye?"

This time, it was Slick who jolted in his seat. "Yeah! That's him!" He said, visibly excited. For a while, anyway. Slick studied the girls face, it was fully of sorrow and despair. He knew what she was going to say.

"I'm sorry, Slick… but he-" She began, only for the Sergeant to raise his hand as if to tell her to stop.

"I can already tell, kid… was it quick?"

Her expression didn't change. "… No… it wasn't. He was in the gunner seat of a Y-Wing, he got hit. The pilot managed to get him back to the Venator and I tried to make it as painless as possible… I could sense it within him, he wasn't in pain, I promise… I'm just sorry that I couldn't save him. My skills as a Jedi healer aren't as good as they need to be for war." She admitted with tears forming in her eyes.

"Hey, stop it. You tried, okay? That's more than anyone could have ever asked for. It's certainly more than I ever did for him… He was the last one." He sighed before continuing. "Spider, Mustard… Temper… they all got caught in an explosion during the early days of Christophsis. Tiptoe had already been handpicked for the fighter programme by then, but I didn't have the heart to tell him… I led the rescue team, for all the good it did. Spider and Mus were… yeah." He swallowed.

"And Temper?" Barriss asked, unsure if she really wanted to know.

"He was in the middle of it… there was nothing to recover…" He muttered.

"I can sense what you're feeling, Slick. But… you don't have to be alone. Whether we like it or not, we're here together, so you have me. If you'd want me, that is." She stuttered.

They shared a look that could only be described as comfort more than anything. He let out a genuine smile. "Of course, kid. I mean, how else am I gonna teach you how to play sabaac as good as me?"

It was that day that Slick had come to the conclusion that not all of the Jedi seemed so bad.