MINOR ADJUSTMENTS

Andrew was so thankful he could cry again.

Rex had been quick to hurry him into his large cruiser, and even quicker to hand him some new clothes. Noting that they'd jettison anything Jabba had given him out into space at the first opportunity. They wanted nothing about him to resemble the boy who had spent his time in Jabba's palace.

He cleaned himself off where he was directed, a small washroom. And pulled on the baggy pants tan pants and simple blue shirt. They weren't as comfortable as the clothes he'd worn - but they were human, free man's clothes and that was good enough for him.

He made his way up above then to find Rex resting near the cockpit. When the clone stared at his neck, Andrew did find himself reaching up slowly. How bad did it look after half a year of wearing that damned collar? "Don't worry kid, it'll heal," Rex remarked. "Good to see you looking like a real boy rather than some hairless Lothal Cat."

Andrew held out the robes he'd been wearing as Rex motioned for them. "These are getting thrown out my garbage chute," Rex murmured as he motioned for Andrew to have a seat next. "You OK, Andrew?"

The teen sucked a breath in, but did nodded. It probably was a lie because a part of him still felt knots in his stomach. Was he really free? Or would he wake up in his cage and realize it was a dream? "I just can't believe you did that. Honestly," He admitted. "You literally outsmarted a Hutt. How did you do that?"

There was a certain tenseness in Rex's demeanor. Had something happened that Andrew didn't understand? From his side it had looked like an accident but could that be wrong? "Never mind that," Rex noted. "I made up one of my cabins for you. It's nothing great, but the bed is warm and cozy enough. My quarters and weapons bay are off limits."

"Why the weapons bay?"

"I don't want you to shoot yourself by accident."

That... Was fair enough. "So, where are you taking me now anyway?"

Rex sighed and looked out at the deep space. "That's the thing. My contact wants you to lay low before I take you anywhere. Just in case," Rex explained. "So you're just going to accompany me until she makes contact with me. Hopefully with somewhere to drop you off."

Until then, Andrew figured, being with Rex didn't sound bad. So far he felt like the only person he could really trust given his honesty. And besides, the guy had literally stuck his neck out to get him out of there. "I owe you my life you know," He finally voiced. "I don't think I can ever thank you properly."

Rex frowned. "You don't owe me anything. I like you," He admitted. "We made a connection in that hellhole. Getting you out of there wasn't even a job anymore."

There was a faint ghost of a smile on both of their faces when he said that. "All that being said. We have some things to go over," Rex noted. "Starting with your name. I'm sorry, kid. You don't have to be "Gusha" but your name Andrew isn't safe between your uncle or the Hutt's."

Andrew hated to say it, but he was right. The second anyone heard his name, and description they'd both be in danger. "OK... I think I already kind of accepted that," He admitted softly. "Looks like you've thought about it."

Rex nodded. "Back in my day, we kind of named ourselves, so I gave some thought," He explained honestly. "I came up with a few options: Cayden, Sarid, Dare..."

"Oh! I kind of like those," Andrew admitted. "Is there a reason for those?"

Rex smirked. "Most of those names are attributed to someone who's strong, with lots of courage," He admitted. "Considering you spent the last six months surviving under the Hutt's - you've earned something in that category."

Andrew again smiled, though he didn't feel like he at all deserved it. A part of him still felt like he was a coward for not standing up for himself at all. "Do I get to pick it?"

"It's your name."

"Yeah, but I don't... I don't know, it's tough letting go of Andrew for good," The teen admitted. "Can you pick one?"

Rex turned fully to stare at him in the eyes, as if searching inside him. For a minute, the teen thought he'd reject it. But then, with a nod, the clone held out his hand and as they shook replied. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Dare," He explained with a twinkle in his eye. "Now, go get some sleep. You need it after all of that."

The teen didn't argue one second.

You chose that name because it sounded Clone-y, he chastised himself.

It was only more proof of what he hated to admit: that he was getting too attached. But Andrew - Dare now - had asked him to give him his new designation, that wasn't his fault. Rex tried not to think too hard on his temporary ward, keeping his focus on the path ahead. It was time to get back to work, he thought.

Still, he did appreciate being able to take a breather. He no longer had the kid's being in Jabba's servitude on his mind. For now Dare was sound asleep in one of his quarters and they could work on the rest.

He just hoped that they'd find somewhere to take him soon. Because the last thing he needed was to end up fully attached.

What's more - the death of the podracer still weighed on his mind. Grell had been so willing to actually kill someone seemingly innocent to get the kid back. And something about that truly didn't sit right with Rex at all. He'd considered calling Kaz to ask what she actually knew of Grell, but thought better of it.

If the man was bad news, he didn't know Rex's name. And now that Andrew had agreed to adopt a new identity too it would be easier. Rex made note that the first friendly spaceport they could they'd further transform Andrew - get his hair dyed, maybe some colored contacts. Just enough of a change that anyone seedy looking for him wouldn't easily pick him out of a crowd.

"Rex?"

He was jostled from his thoughts by Dare's small voice. The clone leaned out the doorway to his quarters as he found him in the hallway. "You good, kid?" He asked. "You were sleeping pretty well before."

Dare nodded his head sheepishly. "Just... Been a while since I woke up and it was this quiet," He admitted meekly. "... I know it's silly but I thought maybe -."

"It's ok, I can imagine this is a little jarring," Rex replied. "You've been hurt and abused, Dare. It's going to take time to deprogram that brain of yours."

"Deprogram..?"

Rex's brow furrowed as he realized the kid wasn't even aware. "Yeah, kid. Aware or not, you were definitely being brainwashed in there, it's what kept you in line," he explained. "You're probably too young to really notice how. So I'm gonna do my best to get the bad ticks out of your brain."

Dare definitely seemed to tense a little at that. But Rex wasn't going to be hard about it, he was a soldier but he was first and foremost a good man. Dare was now his responsibility for the moment and he took that seriously. "Oh, I guess that makes sense," He explained. "... Sorry for disturbing you by the way."

"Disturb me all you want. Especially if something's wrong," Rex admitted. "I tend to lead a bit of an exciting life. Last thing I need is to wake up to space pirates or something."

The boy giggled, a sound that definitely put a smile on Rex's face. He hoped he could get him to do that a little more when they were together. "Can I ask where we're going by the way?" The teen finally asked. "If we're not dropping me off somewhere yet I mean?"

"Far from Tatooine, following a lead I have on a friend of mine."

"Which is code for?"

"I have no idea." That made them both laugh. "Nah, I'm actually going to find us a spaceport first. Before we go anywhere we have to finish up changing your identity. New clothes, new eye color, new hair color."

Dare looked down at the ground. "I can't keep anything from my old identity?"

Rex frowned, but lead him back toward his temporary quarters. They were small, as he had said, but comfortably fit them both inside for the most part. "Kid, you're supposed to be dead or a pet. If anyone gets whiff of you, they'll make sure either one happens;" He explained rather honestly as he sat on his bed. "This is hard. But it's a fresh start, no asshole father. No slimy slavers. You're your own boy now."

The boy looked at him sheepishly, but after a moment nodded. Rex knew he didn't understand now, but when he was an adult he'd probably thank him. "I get it. At least I'm not having to turn into whatever Jabba wanted," He admitted honestly. "... You promise I'll be going to nice people, right?"

Rex shook his head. "Won't leave until you are. I'm a little too fond of you now."

That caused a smile to etch onto the boy's face and relief to wash over him. Still, Rex needed rest, so he encouraged him to lay back under the blankets. "Get to sleep now, Dare. I ain't going anywhere," He explained as he headed toward the doorway. "We got a long day ahead of us."

And in the hardest setting he'd ever seen: civilian life.

Dare. Dare. Dare.

As they touched down in the spaceport, Andrew, well, Dare now, reminded himself of his new name. Rex seemed to call him it frequently as a reminder, but he admittedly felt a little nervous about forgetting. Still, he did as Rex told him as he reminded himself of that, keeping his head down and letting him do most of the talking.

Now they were in some sort of parlor, at least that was how he described it. It was smaller, but Rex had disappeared into the back which seemed a tad bigger. He kept his eyes focused on the gunmetal gray walls, counting the seconds before the clone finally returned.

When he did, Rex brought a slender; kind looking pink Twi'lek with him. She looked to be younger, but unlike Fortuna or some of the slavers he'd met, Dare didn't get bad vibes at all. "Aw, he's cute, Rex," She noted warmly. "You sure you want me to change him up?"

Rex grunted. "Like I said, the less you know about it the better," He explained. "Thanks Izzy, I owe you one."

Izzy pursed her lips, but nodded slightly before taking a hold of Dare's hand. Dare honestly had to ask as she pulled him into the back. "So you know Rex as Rex?" He asked curiously.

Izzy chuckled. "I do, after the Clone Wars he helped me out of a bad spot. Feel like that's where he meets most of his ally's," she noted as she sat him down in a small chair in a larger room. "I was a spy back then, y'know? When the Emperor seized power he threw me under the bus."

Yikes. But that answered why Rex had decided on coming here and to her. If anyone knew how to start over and keep a low profile. "I'm surprised he hasn't retired or anything," Dare admitted. "It seems like he's getting up there in age."

"Accelerated aging and all," Izzy pointed out. "I think he's looking for his friends - or a reason to kick back. Y'know? I think he's kind of allergic to civilian life."

Huh. That kind of made sense, Dare guessed. It seemed that Rex was on his own for the most part before him. So he could honestly imagine he hadn't found that reason to sit down and relax yet. "Now, do you prefer natural hair colors honey? I can see you with a nice shade of blue, or maybe green too," Izzy pulled him out of his thoughts. "I think we're gonna go with brown for the color contacts. Most common among humans - it'll make sure you don't stand out with those pretty blue eyes of yours."

That part definitely made him blush a little. "I don't know; I guess I never thought about it?" He asked. Tilting his head sideways. "But a dark green could be cool."

Izzy grinned a little. "Green is very in. Lots of the young kids do it," She admitted. "Kind of a pain to keep up though. So you'll have to listen to my instructions carefully."

It definitely took a long time at least, Dare noted. As it seemed like he sat there forever as she worked on it and followed it up by explaining how to maintain it. It probably had only been a half an hour, but still... By the time she'd finished and started to cut his hair he was honestly grateful.

A part of him wanted to argue against cutting off his hair. Which even before living with Jabba had been long. But knew that was kind of the point, shorter hair was not his style - not something people would be used to seeing him with.

Then came the contacts. "Now these are special, you don't need multiples. They stay clean and attached to your eye," She explained. "You'll need to buy a new one once a year. Rex knows where to find them though."

As she set them into his eyes, Dare blinked a bit. But didn't wait long to find out how he looked. Izzy returned after with both Rex, and a mirror. When the teen looked down, he barely recognized himself. He had gained some weight, and the hair almost made him look like a cadet. But he did look good, he looked normal.

"You did a good job, Izzy," Rex said in thanks. "Now we can move about the Galaxy without a single bat of an eyelash."

Izzy smirked, she seemed proud of her work. And honestly, Dare had to agree. "I appreciate it," He explained. "Barely recognize myself."

The Twi'lek gave a wink before noting. "Well, hope you two get to where you're going safely at least," She then noted. "Wanna stay for supper? I can hear breakfast cooking in the back."

Dare could too, and with a small glance over at Rex pleaded with his eyes. Rex frowned a bit and thought it over for a minute. "Eh, I could use some food in my belly," He explained. "Can't stay long though. Got to keep one step ahead of any trouble."

As he stood to join them, Dare took one last look at this new boy in the mirror. It was, like Rex promised, a fresh start. He wasn't the son of a diplomat, or the pet of a Hutt, the person who looked back at him was nobody. A blank slate.

And for once he was happy to be a nobody.

A/N: I know, sort of a filler chapter. But I wanted to address realistically how they get around without Andrew being recognized before any misadventures happen!